i^^" " 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


(>i^ /i-^Vt'"^/^^ 


WALKS    IN    EOME 

VOL.    I. 


B, 


Showin]^  tLc  more  important 
rtrcets  and  buildinj^s . 


WALKS    IN    ROME 


AUGUSTUS  J.  a  HARE 

AUTHOR  OF 

'WALKS  IN   LONDON,'    'CITIES  OF  NORTHERN   AND  CENTRAL  ITALY, 
'DAYS   NEAR  ROME,'   ETC. 


FIFTEENTH  EDITION  (REVISED) 

IN  TWO   VOLUMES 
VOL.  I. 


NEW  YORK  :  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

LONDON :  GEORGE  ALLEN 

1902 


1  4  7  R  4  ^ 


TO 

HIS  DEAR  MOTHER 

THE  CONSTANT  COMPANION  OP  MANY  ROMAN   WINTERS 
THESE   PAGES   ARE   DEDICATED 
BY 

THE  AUTHOR 


CONTENTS 

OF    THE    FIRST    VOLUME 


INTEODUCTORY. 

PAGE 

The  Arrival  in  Rome 1 


CHAPTER  I. 
'   '    Dull-Useful  Information 17 


CHAPTER  II. 
t-^.    The  Corso  and  its  Neighbourhood 24 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Capitoline .        .      72 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Forums  and  the  Coliseum 108 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Velabrum  and  the  Ghetto 161 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Palatine 192 


viii  CONTENTS   OF   THE   FIEST   VOLUME 

CHAPTER  VII. 

PAGE 

The  Coelian 222 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Aventine 243 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Via  Appia 260 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Quirinal  and  Viminai 302 

INDEX 331 


WALKS    IN    EOME 

INTRODUCTORY 
THE   ARRIVAL   IN  ROME 

'AGAIN  this  date  of  Rome;  the  most  solemn  and  interesting 
■^^  that  my  hand  can  ever  write,  and  even  now  more  interesting 
than  when  I  saw  it  last,'  wrote  Dr.  Arnold  to  his  wife  in  1840, — and 
how  many  thousands  before  and  since  have  experienced  the  same 
feeling,  who  have  looked  forward  to  a  visit  to  Rome  as  one  of  the 
great  events  of  their  lives,  as  the  realisation  of  the  dreams  and 
longings  of  many  years  ! 

An  arrival  in  Rome  is  very  different  to  that  in  any  other  town  in 
Europe.  It  is  coming  to  a  place  new  and  yet  most  familiar,  strange 
and  yet  so  well  known.  When  travellers  arrive  at  Verona,  for 
instance,  or  at  Aries,  they  generally  go  to  the  amphitheatres  with 
a  curiosity  to  know  what  they  are  like  ;  but  when  they  arrive  at 
Rome  and  go  to  the  Coliseum,  it  is  to  visit  an  object  whose  appear- 
ance has  been  familiar  to  them  from  childhood,  and,  long  ere  it 
is  reached,  from  the  heights  of  the  distant  Capitol  they  can  recog- 
nise the  well-known  form  ; — and  as  regards  S.  Peter's,  who  is  not 
familiar  with  the  aspect  of  the  dome,  of  the  wide-spreading  piazza, 
and  the  foaming  fountains,  for  long  years  before  they  come  to  gaze 
upon  the  reality  ? 

'  My  presentiment  of  the  emotions  with  which  I  should  behold  the 
Roman  ruins  has  proved  quite  correct,'  wrote  Niebuhr.  'Nothing 
about  them  is  new  to  me  ;  as  a  child  I  lay  so  often,  for  hours  to- 
gether, before  their  pictures,  that  their  images  were,  even  at  that 
early  age,  as  distinctly  impressed  upon  my  mind  as  if  I  had  actually 
seen  them.' 

'  Je  ne'saurais  revoir,'  says  Montaigne,  'si  souvent  le  tombeau  de 
cette  ville  si  grande  et  si  puissante,  que  je  ne  I'admire  et  revere. 
J'ai  eu  connaissance  des  affaires  de  Rome  long  temps  avant  que 
j'aie  eu  connaissance  de  ma  maison.  Je  savais  le  Capitole  et  son 
plan  avant  que  je  susse  le  Louvre,  et  le  Tibre  avant  la  Seine.' 

What  Madame  Swetchine  says  of  life,  that  you  find  in  it  exactly 
what  you  put  into  it,  is  also  true  of  Rome,  and  those  who  come  to 

VOL.   I.  A 


2  Walks  in  Rome 

it  with  least  mental  preparatiou  arc  those  least  fitted  to  enjoy  it. 
That  preparation,  however,  is  not  so  easy  as  it  used  to  be.  In  the 
old  days,  the  happy  old  days  of  vetturino  travelling:,  there  were 
many  quiet  hours,  when  the  country  was  not  too  beautiful  and  the 
towns  not  too  interesting,  in  whicli  Gibbon  and  Merivale  and  Mil- 
man  were  tlie  pleasantest  of  travelling  companions,  and  when  books 
on  Italian  art  and  poetry  served  to  illustrate  and  illuminate  the 
graver  studies  which  were  gradually  making  Italy,  not  only  a 
beautiful  panorama,  but  a  country  filled  with  forms  which  were 
daily  growing  into  more  familiar  acquaintance.  Perugia  and 
Spoieto,  Terni  and  Civita  Castellana,  led  fitly  then  up  to  the  greater 
interests  of  Rome,  as  courtiers  to  a  king.  But  now  there  are  no 
such  opportunities  of  preparation,  and,  in  spite  of  old  landmarks, 
travellers  who  pay  a  hurried  visit  to  Rome  are  bewildered  by  the 
vast  mass  of  interest  before  them,  by  the  endless  labyrinth  of  minor 
objects  which  they  desire,  ir,  still  oftener,  feel  it  a  duty  to  visit. 
The  natives  are  unable  to  assist  them,  for  it  is  still  as  true  as  in  the 
days  of  Petrarch,  that  '  nowhere  is  Rome  less  known  than  in  Rome 
itself.'  *  Their  Muiray,  their  Baedeker,  and  their  Bradshaw  indicate 
appalling  lists  of  churches,  temples,  and  villas  which  ought  to  be 
seen,  but  do  not  distribute  them  in  a  manner  which  will  render 
their  inspection  more  easy.  The  promised  pleasure  seems  rapidly 
to  change  into  an  endless  vista  of  labour  to  be  fulfilled  and  of  fatigue 
to  be  gone  through ;  henceforward  the  hours  spent  at  Rome  are 
rather  hours  of  endurance  than  of  pleasure  :  his  cicerone  drags  the 
traveller  in  one  direction  ;  his  antiquarian  friend,  his  artistic 
acquaintance,  would  fain  drag  him  in  others  ;  he  is  confused  by 
accumulated  misty  glimmerings  from  historical  facts  once  learnt  at 
school,  but  long  .since  forgotten — of  artistic  information,  which  he 
feels  that  he  ought  to  have  gleaned  from  years  of  social  intercourse, 
but  which,  from  want  of  use,  has  never  made  any  depth  of  impres- 
sion— by  shadowy  ideas  as  to  the  story  of  this  king  and  that  emperor, 
of  this  pope  and  that  saint,  which,  from  insufficient  time,  and  the 
absence  of  books  of  reference,  he  has  no  opportunity  of  clearing 
up.  It  is  therefore  in  the  hope  of  aiding  some  of  these  bewildered 
ones,  and  of  rendering  their  walks  in  Rome  more  easy  and  more 
interesting,  that  the  following  chapters  are  written.  They  aim  at 
nothing  original,  and  are  only  a  gathering  up  of  the  information  of 
others,  and  a  gleaning  from  what  has  been  already  given  to  the 
world  in  a  far  better  and  fuller,  but  less  portable  form  ;  while,  in 
their  plan,  they  attempt  to  guide  the  traveller  in  his  daily  wander- 
ings through  the  city  and  its  suburbs. 

There  is  one  point  which  cannot  be  sufficiently  impressed  upon 
those  who  wish  to  take  away  more  than  a  mere  surface  impression 
of  Rome  ;  it  is,  never  to  see  too  much  ;  never  try  to  '  do '  Rome. 
Nothing  can  be  more  depressing  to  those  who  really  value  Rome 
than  to  meet  two  Englishmen  hunting  in  couples  through  the 
Vatican  galleries,  one  looking  for  the  number  of  the  statue  in  the 

1  Letters  to  Cardinal  Giovanni  Colonna.  , 


Introductory  3 

guide-book,  the  other  finding  it ;  than  to  hear  Americans  describe 
the  Forum  as  the  dustiest  heap  of  old  ruins  tliey  had  ever  looked 
upon ;  or  say,  when  asked  their  opinion  of  the  Venus  de'  Medici,  that 
they  '  guess  they  were  not  particular  gone  on  stone  gals  ; '  than  to 
encounter  a  husband  who  boasts  of  having  seen  everything  in  Rome 
in  three  days,  while  the  wife  laments  that,  in  recollection,  she 
cannot  distinguish  the  Vatican  from  the  Capitol,  or  S.  Peter's  from 
S.  Paul's.  Better  far  to  leave  half  the  ruins  and  nine-tenths  of  the 
churches  unseen  and  to  see  well  the  rest ;  to  see  them  not  once,  but 
again  and  often  agaip  ;  to  watch  them,  to  learn  them,  to  live  with 
them,  to  love  them,  till  they  have  become  a  part  of  life  and  life's 
recollections.  And  it  is  the  same  in  the  galleries  :  for  what  can  be 
carried  away  by  those  who  wander  over  the  whole  Vatican  at  once 
but  a  hopeless  chaos  of  marble  limbs? — at  best  a  nightmare  in 
which  Venus  and  Mercury,  Jupiter  and  Juno,  play  the  principal 
parts.  But,  if  the  traveller  will  benefit  by  the  Vatican,  he  must 
make  friends  with  a  few  of  the  statues,  and  pay  them  visits,  and 
grow  constantly  into  greater  intimacy  ;  then  the  purity  of  their 
outlines  and  the  majestic  serenity  of  their  god-like  grace  will  have 
jjower  over  him,  raising  his  spirit  to  a  perception  of  beauty  of  which 
he  had  no  idea  before,  and  enabling  him  to  discern  the  traces  of 
genius  in  humbler  works  of  those  who  may  be  struggling  and 
striving  after  the  best,  but  who,  while  they  have  found  the  right 
path  which  leads  to  the  great  end,  are  still  very  far  ofi". 

In  any  case,  however,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  one  short 
residence  at  Rome  will  be  sufficient  to  make  a  foreigner  acquainted 
with  all  its  varied  treasures  ;  or  even,  in  most  cases,  that  its  attrac- 
tions will  become  apparent  to  the  passing  stranger.  The  squalid  ap- 
pearance of  its  modern  streets,  and  still  more  the  hideous  mutilations 
and  additions  of  the  Sardinian  occupation,  will  go  far  to  neutralise 
the  effect  of  its  ancient  buildings  and  the  grandeur  of  its  historic 
recollections.  It  is  only  by  returning  again  and  again,  by  allowing 
the  feeling  of  Rome  to  gain  upon  you,  when  you  have  constantly 
revisited  the  same  view,  the  same  ruin,  the  same  picture,  under 
varying  circumstances,  that  Rome  engraves  itself  upon  your  heart, 
and  changes  from  a  disagreeable,  unwholesome  acquaintance,  into  a 
dear  and  intimate  friend  seldom  long  absent  from  your  thoughts. 
'  Whoever,'  said  Chateaubriand,  '  has  nothing  else  left  in  life,  should 
come  to  live  in  Rome  ;  there  he  will  find  for  society  a  land  which 
will  nourish  his  reflections,  walks  which  will  always  tell  him  some- 
thing new.  The  stone  which  crumbles  under  his  feet  will  speak  to 
him,  and  even  the  dust  which  the  wind  raises  under  his  footsteps 
will  seem  to  bear  with  it  something  of  human  grandeur.' 

'When  we  have  once  known  Rome,'  wrote  Hawthorne,  'and  left 
her  where  she  lies,  like  a  long-decaying  corpse,  retaining  a  trace  of 
the  noble  shape  it  was,  but  with  accumulated  dust  and  a  fungous 
growth  overspreading  all  its  more  admirable  features — left  her  in 
utter  weariness,  no  doubt,  of  her  narrow,  crooked,  intricate  streets, 
so  uncomfortably  paved  with  little  squares  of  lava  that  to  tread  over 
them  is  a  penitential  pilgrimage  ;  so  indescribably  ugly,  moreover, 


4  Walks  in  Borne 

so  cold,  so  alley-like,  into  which  the  sun  never  falls,  and  where  a 
chill  wind  forces  its  deadly  breath  into  our  lungs — left  her,  tired  of 
the  sight  of  tliose  immense  seven-storied,  yellow-washed  hovels,  or 
call  them  palaces,  where  all  that  is  dreary  in  domestic  life  seems 
magnified  and  multiplied,  and  weary  of  climbing  those  staircases 
which  ascend  from  a  ground-floor  of  cook-shops,  cobblers'-stalls, 
stables,  and  regiments  of  cavalry,  to  a  middle  region  of  princes, 
cardinals,  and  ambassadors,  and  an  uppertier  of  artists,  just  beneath 
the  unattainable  sky — left  her,  worn  out  with  shivering  at  the  cheer- 
less and  smoky  fireside  by  day,  and  feasting  with  our  own  substance 
the  ravenous  population  of  a  Roman  bed  at  night — left  her,  sick  at 
heart  of  Italian  trickery,  which  has  uprooted  whatever  faith  in  man's 
integrity  had  endured  till  now,  and  sick  at  stomach  of  sour  bread, 
sour  wine,  rancid  butter,  and  bad  cookery,  needlessly  bestowed  on 
evil  meats— left  her,  disgusted  with  the  pretence  of  holiness  and  the 
reality  of  nastiness,  each  eqially  omnipresent — left  her,  half  lifeless 
from  the  languid  atmosphere,  the  vital  principle  of  which  has  been 
used  up  long  ago  or  corrupted  by  myriads  of  slaughters — left  her, 
crushed  down  in  spirit  by  the  desolation  of  her  ruin  and  the  hope- 
lessness of  her  future — left  her,  in  short,  hating  her  with  all  our 
might,  and  adding  our  individual  curse  to  the  infinite  anathema 
which  her  old  crimes  have  unmistakably  brought  down  ; — when 
we  have  left  Rome  in  such  a  mood  as  this,  we  are  astonished  by 
the  discovery,  by-and-by,  that  our  heartstrings  have  mysteriously 
attached  themselves  to  the  Eternal  City,  and  are  drawing  us  thither- 
ward again,  as  if  it  were  more  familiar,  more  intimately  our  home, 
than  even  the  spot  where  we  were  born.' 

This  is  the  attractive  and  sympathetic  power  of  Rome  which 
Byron  so  fully  appreciated — 

'  Oh  Rome  !  my  country  !  city  of  the  soul  ! 

Tlie  orphans  of  the  lieart  must  turn  to  thee, 

T.one  mother  of  dead  empires  !  and  controul 

In  tlieir  sliiit  breasts  their  petty  misery. 

Wliat  are  our  woes  and  sufferance  ?    Come  and  see 

The  cypress,  hear  tlie  owl,  and  plod  your  way 

o'er  steps  of  broken  thrones  and  temples.     Ye 

Whose  agf>nies  are  evils  of  a  day — 
A  world  is  at  our  feet  as  fragile  as  our  clay. 

The  Niobe  of  nations  !  there  she  stands 
Childless  and  crownless,  in  her  voiceless  woe 
An  empty  urn  within  her  withered  hands. 
Whose  sacred  dust  was  scattered  long  ago  ; 
The  .Scipios'  tomb  contains  no  ashes  now; 
The  very  sepulchres  lie  tenantless 
Of  their  heroic  dwellers  :  dost  thou  flow, 
Old  Tiber  1  through  a  marble  wilderness  ? 
Rise,  with  thy  yellow  waves,  and  mantle  her  distress  ! ' 

The  impressiveness  of  an  arrival  at  the  Eternal  City  was  formerly 
enhanced  by  the  solemn  singularity  of  the  country  through  which 
it  was  slowly  approached.  '  Those  who  arrive  at  Rome  now  by  the 
railway,'  says  Mrs.  Craven  in  her  'Anne  Severin,'  'and  rush  like  a 
whirlwind  into  a  station,  cannot  imagine  the  effect  which  the  words 


Introductory  5 

"  Ecco  Roma"  formerly  produced  when,  on  arriving  at  the  point  in 
the  road  from  which  the  Eternal  City  could  be  descried  for  the 
first  time,  the  postillion  stopped  his  horses,  and,  pointing  it  out  to 
the  traveller  in  the  distance,  pronounced  them  with  that  Roman 
accent  which  is  grave  and  sonorous  as  the  name  of  Rome  itself.' 

'How  pleasing,'  says  Cardinal  Wiseman,  'was  the  usual  indica- 
tion to  early  travellers,  by  voice  and  outstretched  whip,  embodied 
in  the  well-known  exclamation  of  every  vetturino,  "Ecco  Roma." 
To  one  "lasso  maris  et  viarum,"  like  Horace,  these  words  brought 
the  first  promise  of  approaching  rest.  A  few  more  miles  of  weary 
hills,  every  one  of  which,  from  its  summit,  gave  a  more  swelling 
and  majestic  outline  to  what  so  far  constituted  "Roma,"  that 
is,  the  great  cupola,  not  of  the  church,  but  of  the  city,  its  only 
discernible  part,  cutting,  like  a  huge  peak,  into  the  clear  wintry 
sky,  and  the  long  journey  was  ended,  and  ended  by  the  full  realisa- 
tion of  well-cherished  hopes.' 

Most  travellers,  perhaps,  in  the  old  days,  came  by  sea  from 
Marseilles  and  arrived  from  Civita  Vecchia,  by  the  dreary  road 
which  leads  through  Palo,  and  near  the  base  of  the  hills  upon  which 
stands  Cervetri,  the  ancient  Caere,  from  the  junction  of  whose  name 
and  customs  the  word  '  ceremony  '  has  arisen, — so  especially  useful 
in  the  great  neighbouring  city.  'This  road  from  Civita  Vecchia,' 
writes  Miss  Edwards,  '  lies  among  shapeless  hillocks,  shaggy  with 
bush  and  briar.  Far  away  on  one  side  gleams  a  line  of  soft  blue 
sea — on  the  other  lie  mountains  as  blue,  but  not  more  distant. 
Not  a  sound  stirs  the  stagnant  air.  Not  a  tree,  not  a  housetop, 
breaks  the  wide  monotony.  The  dust  lies  beneath,  the  wheels  like 
a  carpet,  and  follows  like  a  cloud.  The  grass  is  yellow,  the  weeds 
are  parched;  and  where  there  have  been  wayside  pools,  the  ground 
is  cracked  and  dry.  Now  we  pass  a  crumbling  fragment  of  some- 
thing that  may  have  been  a  tomb  or  temple  centuries  ago.  Now 
we  come  upon  a  little  wide-eyed  peasant  boy  keeping  goats  among 
the  ruins,  like  Giotto  of  old.  Presently  a  bufi'alo  lifts  his  black 
mane  above  the  neighbouring  hillock,  and  rushes  away  before  we 
can  do  more  than  point  to  the  spot  on  which  we  saw  it.  Thus  the 
day  attains  its  noon,  and  the  sun  hangs  overhead  like  a  brazen 
shield,  brilliant  but  cold.  Thus,  too,  we  reach  the  brow  of  a  long 
and  steep  ascent,  where  our  driver  pulls  up  to  rest  his  weary 
beasts.  "The  sea  has  now  faded  almost  out  of  sight;  the  mountains 
look  larger  and  nearer,  with  streaks  of  snow  upon  their  summits, 
the  Campagna  reaches  on  and  on  and  shows  no  sign  of  limit  or  of 
verdure  ;  while,  in  the  midst  of  the  clear  air,  half  way,  so  it  would 
seem,  between  you  and  the  purple  Sabine  range,  rises  one  solemn 
solitary  dome.     Can  it  be  the  dome  of  S.  Peter's  ? ' 

The  great  feature  of  the  Civita  Vecchia  route  was  that,  after  all 
the  utter  desolation  and  dreariness  of  many  miles  of  the  least 
interesting  part  of  the  Campagna,  the  traveller  was  almost  stunned 
by  the  transition,  when,  on  suddenly  passing  the  Porta  Cavalleg- 
gieri,  he  found  himself  in  the  piazza  of  S.  Peter's,  with  its  wide- 
spreading  colonnades  and  high-springing  fountains  ;  indeed,  the 


6  Walks  in  Rome 

first  building  he  saw  was  S.  Peter's,  the  first  house  that  of  the  Pope, 
the  pahice  of  the  Vatican.  But  the  more  gradual  approach  by  land 
from  Vitcrbo  and  Tuscany  possessed  equal,  if  not  superior,  interest. 
'  When  we  turned  the  summit  above  Viterbo,'  wrote  Dr.  Arnold, 
'and  opened  on  the  view  on  the  other  side,  it  might  be  called  the 
first  approach  to  Rome.  At  the  distance  of  more  than  forty  miles, 
it  was,  of  course,  impossible  to  see  the  town,  and,  besides,  the 
distance  was  hazy  ;  but  we  were  looking  on  the  scene  of  the  Roman 
history ;  we  were  standing  on  the  outward  edge  of  the  frame  of  the 
great  "picture  ;  and  though  the  features  of  it  were  not  to  be  traced 
distinctly,  yet  we  had  the  consciousness  that  they  were  before  us. 
Here,  too,  we  first  saw  the  Mediterranean,  the  Alban  hills,  I  think, 
in  the  remote  distance,  and  just  beneath  us,  on  the  left,  Soracte,  an 
outlier  of  the  Apennines,  which  has  got  to  the  right  bank  of  the 
Tiber,  and  stands  out  by  itself  most  magnificently.  Close  under  us, 
in  front,  was  the  Ciminian  'ake,  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano, 
surrounded,  as  they  all  are,  with  their  basin  of  wooded  hills,  and 
lying  like  a  beautiful  mirror  stretched  out  before  us.  Then  there 
was  the  grand  beauty  of  Italian  scenery,  the  depth  of  the  valleys, 
the  endless  variety  of  the  mountain  outline,  and  the  towns  perched 
upon  the  mountain  summits,  and  this  now  seen  under  a  mottled 
sky,  which  threw  an  ever-varying  light  and  shadow  over  the  valley 
beneath,  and  all  the  freshness  of  the  young  spring.  We  descended 
along  one  of  the  rims  of  this  lake  to  Ronciglione,  and  from  thence, 
still  descending  on  the  whole,  to  Monterosi.  Here  the  famous 
Carapagna  begins,  and  it  certainly  is  one  of  the  most  striking  tracts 
of  country  I  ever  beheld.  It  is  by  no  means  a  perfect  flat,  except 
between  Rome  and  the  sea ;  but  rather  like  the  Bagshot  Heath 
country,  ridges  of  hills,  with  intermediate  valleys,  and  the  road 
often  running  between  high,  steep  banks,  and  sometimes  crossing 
sluggish  streams  sunk  in  a  deep  bed.  All  these  banks  are  overgrown 
with  broom,  now  in  full  flower  ;  and  the  same  plant  was  luxuriant 
everywhere.  There  seemed  no  apparent  reason  why  the  country 
should  be  so  desolate  ;  the  grass  was  growing  richly  everywhere. 
There  was  no  marsh  anywhere  visible,  but  all  looked  as  fresh  and 
healthy  as  any  of  our  chalk  downs  in  England.  But  it  is  a  wide 
wilderness ;  no  villages,  scarcely  any  houses,  and  here  and  there 
a  lonely  ruin  of  a  single  square  tower,  which  I  suppose  used  to 
serve  as  strongholds  for  men  and  cattle  in  the  plundering  warfare 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  It  was  after  crowning  the  top  of  one  of  these 
lines  of  hills,  a  little  on  the  Roman  side  of  Baccano,  at  five  ininutes 
after  six,  according  to  my  watch,  that  we  had  the  first  view  of  Rome 
itself.  I  expected  to  see  S.  Peter's  rising  above  the  line  of  the  horizon, 
as  York  Minster  does  ;  but  instead  of  that,  it  was  within  the  horizon, 
and  so  was  much  less  conspicuous,  and  from  the  nature  of  the  ground, 
it  looked  mean  and  stumpy.  Nothing  else  marked  the  site  of  the  city, 
but  the  trees  of  the  gardens,  and  a  number  of  white  villas  specking 
the  opposite  bank  of  the  Tiber  for  some  little  distance  above  the 
town,  and  then  suddenly  ceasing.  But  the  whole  scene  that  burst 
upon  our  view,  when  taken  in  all  its  parts,  was  most  interesting. 


Introductory  7 

Full  in  front  rose  the  Alban  hills,  the  white  villas  on  their  sides 
distinctly  visible,  even  at  that  distance,  which  was  more  than  thirty 
miles.  On  the  left  were  the  Apennines,  and  Tivoli  was  distinctly 
to  be  seen  on  the  summit  of  its  mountain,  on  one  of  the  lowest  and 
nearest  parts  of  the  chain.  On  the  rioht,  and  all  before  us,  lay  the 
Campagna,  whose  perfectly  level  outline  was  succeeded  by  that  of 
the  sea,  which  was  scarcely  more  so.  It  began  now  to  get  dark, 
and  as  there  i.s  hardly  any  twilight,  it  was  dark  soon  after  we  left 
La  Storta,  the  last  post. before  you  enter  Rome.  The  air  blew  fresh 
and  coo],  and  we  had  a  pleasant  drive  over  the  remaining  part 
of  the  Campagna,  till  we  descended  into  the  valley  of  the  Tiber, 
and  crossed  it  by  the  Milvian  bridge.  About  two  miles  farther  on 
we  reached  the  walls  of  Rome,  and  entered  it  by  the  Porta  del 
Popolo.' 

Niebuhr,  coming  the  same  way,  says  :  '  It  was  with  solemn  feelings 
that  this  morning,  from  the  barren  heights  of  the  moory  Campagna, 
I  first  caught  sight  of  the  cupola  of  S.  Peter's,  and  then  of  the  city 
from  the  bridge,  where  all  the  majesty  of  her  buildings  and  her 
history  seem  to  lie  spread  out  before  the  eye  of  the  stranger  ;  and 
afterwards  entered  by  the  Porta  del  Popolo.' 

Madame  de  Stael  gives  us  the  impression  which  the  same  subject 
would  produce  on  a  different  type  of  character  : — 

'Le  Corate  d'Erfeuil  faisait  de  comiques  lamentations  sur  les 
environs  de  Rome.  "Quoi,"  disait-il,  "point  de  maison  de  cam- 
pagne,  point  de  voiture,  rien  qui  annonce  le  voisinage  d'une  grande 
ville  !  Ah  !  bon  Dieu,  quelle  tristesse  !  "  En  approchant  de  Rome, 
les  postilions  s'ecrierent  avec  transport :  "  Voyez,  voyez,  c'est  la 
coupole  de  Saint-Pierre  !  "  Les  Napolitains  montrent  aussi  le  Vesuve  ; 
et  la  mer  fait  de  meme  I'orgueil  des  habitans  des  cotes.  "  On 
croirait  voir  le  dome  des  Invalides,"  s'ecria  le  Comte  d'Erfeuil.' 

It  was  by  this  approach  that  most  of  its  distinguished  pilgrims  have 
entered  the  capital  of  the  Catholic  world :  monks,  who  came  hither 
to  obtain  the  foundation  of  their  Orders  ;  saints,  who  thirsted  to 
worship  at  the  shrines  of  their  predecessors,  or  who  came  to  receive 
the  crown  of  martyrdom  ;  priests  and  bishops  from  distant  lands — 
many  coming  in  turn  to  receive  here  the  highest  dignity  which 
Christendom  could  offer  ;  kings  and  emperors,  to  ask  coronation  at 
the  hands  of  the  reigning  pontiff  ;  and,  among  all  these,  came  by 
this  road,  in  the  full  fervour  of  Catholic  enthusiasm,  Martin  Luther, 
the  future  enemy  of  Rome,  then  its  devoted  adherent.  '  When 
Luther  came  to  Rome,'  says  Ampere,  in  his  '  Portraits  de  Rome  h 
divers  ages,'  'the  future  reformer  was  a  young  monk,  obscure  and 
fervent ;  he  had  no  presentiment,  when  he  set  foot  in  the  great 
Babylon,  that  ten  years  later  he  would  burn  the  bull  of  the  Pope 
in  the  public  square  of  Wittenberg.  His  heart  experienced  nothing 
but  pious  emotions  ;  he  addressed  to  Rome  in  salutation  the  ancient 
hymn  of  the  pilgrims  ;  he  cried,  "  I  salute  thee,  O  holy  Rome,  Rome 
venerable  through  the  blood  and  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs."  But 
after  having  prostrated  on  the  threshold,  he  raised  himself,  he 
entered  into  the  temple,  he  did  not  find  the  God  he  looked  for ;  the 


8  Walks  in  Rome 

city  of  the  saints  and  martyrs  was  a  city  of  murderers  and  prostitutes. 
The  arts  which  marked  this  corruption  were  powerless  over  the 
.stolid  senses,  and  scandalised  the  austere  spirit  of  the  German 
monk ;  he  scarcely  gave  a  passing  glance  at  the  ruins  of  pagan 
Hume,  and,  inwardly  horrified  by  all  that  he  saw,  he  quitted  Home 
in  a  frame  of  mind  very  different  from  that  which  he  brought  with 
liim  ;  he  knelt  then  with  the  devotion  of  the  pilgrims,  now  he  returned 
in  a  disjjosition  like  that  of  the  frondcurs  of  the  Middle  Ages,  but 
more  serious  than  theirs.  This  Rome  of  which  he  had  been  the 
dupe,  and  concerning  which  he  was  disabused,  should  hear  of  him 
again  ;  the  day  would  come  when,  amid  the  merry  toasts  at  his 
table,  he  would  cry  three  times,  "  1  would  not  have  missed  going  to 
Home  for  a  thousand  florins,  for  I  should  always  have  been  uneasy 
lest  I  should  have  been  rendering  injustice  to  the  Pope.'" 

Till  late  years  life  in  Rome  seemed  to  be  free  from  many  of  the 
petty  troubles  which  beset  it  in  other  places  ;  and  there  are  still  few 
foreign  towns  which  offer  so  many  comforts  and  advantages  to  its 
English  visitors.  The  hotels,  indeed,  are  expensive,  and  the  rent 
of  apartments  is  high  ;  but  when  the  latter  is  once  paid,  living  is 
rather  cheap  than  otherwise,  especially  for  those  who  do  not  object 
to  dine  from  a  trattoria  and  to  drive  in  hackney-carriages.  Prices, 
liowever,  are  enormously  raised  since  the  end  of  the  last  century, 
when  Alfieri  only  paid  ten  scudi  a  month  for  the  whole  Strozzi 
palace,  furnished,  with  the  stables,  and  the  use  of  the  villa. 

The  climate  of  Rome  is  very  variable.  If  the  scirocco  blows,  it  is 
mild  and  very  relaxing  ;  but  the  winters  are  more  apt  to  be  subject 
to  the  severe  cold  of  the  tramontana,  which  requires  even  greater 
precaution  and  care  than  that  of  an  English  winter.  Nothing  can 
be  more  mistaken  than  the  im[)ression  that  those  who  go  to  Italy 
are  sure  to  find  there  a  mild  and  congenial  temperature.  The 
climate  of  Rome  has  been  subject  to  severity,  even  from  the  earliest 
times  of  its  history.  Dionysius  speaks  of  one  year  in  the  time  of 
the  Republic  when  the  snow  at  Rome  lay  seven  feet  deep,  and 
many  men  and  cattle  died  of  the  cold.'  Another  year  the  snow  lay 
for  forty  days,  trees  perished,  and  cattle  died  of  hunger.^  Present 
times  are  a  great  improvement  on  these  :  snow  seldom  lies  upon  the 
ground  for  many  hours  together,  and  the  beautiful  fountains  of 
the  city  are  only  hung  with  icicles  long  enough  to  allow  the  photo- 
graphers to  represent  them  thus  ;  but  still  the  climate  is  not  to  be 
trifled  with,  and  violent  transitions  from  the  hot  sunshine  to  the 
cool  shade  of  the  street  often  prove  fatal.  '  No  one  but  dogs  and 
Englishmen,'  say  the  Romans,  'ever  walk  in  the  sun.' 

Even  under  Tiberius,  three  temples  of  Fever  were  in  existence, 
but  the  malaria,  which  is  so  much  dreaded  by  the  natives,  generally 
lies  dormant  during  the  winter  months,  and  seldom  affects  strangers 
unle.ss  they  live  in  some  of  the  new  quarters  of  the  city  near 
recent  excavations,  or  are  inordinately  imprudent  in  sitting  out 
in  the  sunset.     With  the  heats  of  the  late  summer  this  in.sidious 

1  Dionysius,  xii.  8.  2  Livy,  v.  13. 


Introductory  9 

ague-fever  is  apt  to  follow  on  the  slightest  exertion,  and  jiar- 
ticularly  to  overwhelm  those  who  are  employed  in  field  labour. 
From  June  to  November  the  Villa  Borghese  and  the  Villa  Doria 
are  uninhabitable,  and  the  more  deserted  hills  —  the  ("oelian, 
the  Aventine,  and  part  of  the  Esquiline — are  a  constant  prey  to 
fever.  The  malaria,  however,  flies  before  a  crowd  of  human  life, 
and  the  Ghetto,  teeming  with  inhabitants,  was  always  perfectly 
free  from  it.  The  theory  now  generally  accepted  by  the  medical 
profession,  and  due  to  the  researches  of  Professor  Klebs  and  Pro- 
fessor Tommaso  Crudeli,  establishes  that  malaria  is  due  to  a  specific 
microscopic  plant  which  exists  in  the  soil  of  certain  districts,  and 
floats  in  the  atmosphere  above  it.  This  plant,  when  inhaled  and 
absorbed,  finds  in  the  human  body  conditions  favourable  for  its 
growth  and  reproduction,  and  it  prospers  and  multiplies  at  the 
expense  of  the  organism  in  which  it  dwells.  In  the  Campagna, 
rendered  unhealthy  by  the  cessation  of  volcanic  action — with  the 
exception  of  Porto  d'Anzio,  which  has  always  been  healthy — no 
town  or  village  is  safe  after  the  month  of  August,  and  to  this  cau.se 
the  utter  desolation  of  so  many  formerly  populous  sites  (especially 
those  of  Veil  and  Galera)  may  be  attributed  : — 

'Roma,  vorax  hominuni,  donat  ardua  colla  viroruin  ; 
Roma,  ferax  febrium,  necis  est  uberrima  fugum  : 
Romanae  febres  stabili  sunt  jure  fideles.' 

Thus  wrote  Peter  Damian  in  the  tenth  century,  and  those  who  refuse 
to  be  on  their  guard  will  find  it  so  still. 

The  greatest  risk  at  Kome  is  incurred  by  those  who,  coming  out 
of  the  hot  sunshine,  spend  long  hours  in  the  Vatican  and  the  other 
galleries,  especially  those  of  the  Lateran  palace  (so  fatal  to  the 
Popes  of  the  Middle  Ages),  which  are  filled  with  a  deadly  chill 
during  the  winter  months.  As  March  comes  on  this  chill  wears 
away,  and  in  April  and  May  the  temperature  of  the  galleries  (except 
those  of  the  Lateran)  is  delightful,  and  it  is  impossible  to  find  a 
more  agreeable  retreat.  It  is  in  the  hope  of  inducing  strangers  to 
spend  more  time  in  the  study  of  these  wonderful  museums,  and  of 
giving  additional  interest  to  the  hours  which  are  passed  there,  that 
so  much  is  said  about  their  contents  in  these  volumes.  As  far  as 
possible  it  has  been  desired  to  evade  any  mere  catalogue  of  their 
collections — so  that  no  mention  has  been  made  of  objects  which 
possess  inferior  artistic  or  historical  interest ;  while  by  introducing 
anecdotes  connected  with  those  to  which  attention  is  drawn,  or  by 
quoting  the  opinion  of  some  good  authority  concerning  them,  an 
endeavour  has  been  made  to  fix  them  in  the  recollection. 

The  immense  extent  of  Rome,  and  the  wide  distances  to  be 
traversed  between  its  different  ruins  and  churches,  is  in  itself  a 
suflScient  reason  for  devoting  more  time  to  it  than  to  the  other  cities 
of  Italy.  Surprise  will  doubtless  be  felt  that  so  few  pagan  ruins 
remain,  considering  the  enormous  number  which  are  known  to  have 
existed  even  down  to  a  comparatively  late  period.  A  monumental 
record  of  a.d.  540,  published  by  Cardinal  Mai,  mentions  324  streets, 


10  Walks  in  Rome 

2  Capitols— the  Tarpeian  and  that  on  the  Quirinal— 80  gilt  statues 
of  the  gods  (only  the  Hercules  remains),  66  ivory  statues  of  the 
gods,  46, COS  houses,  17,0117  palaces,  13,052  fountains,  3785  statues 
of  emperors  and  generals  in  bronze,  22  great  equestrian  statues  of 
bronze  (onlv  Marcus  Aureliiis  remains),  2  colossi  (Marcus  Aurelius 
and  Trajan),  y02(i  baths,  31  theatres,  and  H  amphitheatres  !  It  was 
Nicliolas  V.  who  lirst  tried  to  make  Rome  the  city  of  the  Popes,  not 
of  the  Emperors,  because  '  only  the  learned  could  understand  the 
grounds  of  the  papal  authority,"  the  unlearned  needed  the  testimony 
of  their  eves,  the  sight  of  the  magnificent  memorials  which  em- 
bodied the  history  of  papal  greatness.'  That  so  many  classical 
remains  still  exist  as  we  now  see  is  due  in  part  to  the  interference  of 
KaiYaelle,  who  implored  Julius  II.  to  'protect  the  few  relics  left  to 
ti'stify  to  the  power  and  greatness  of  that  divine  love  of  antiquity 
whose  memory  was  inspiration  to  all  who  were  capable  of  higher 
t  hings.'  But  the  preservation  of  so  many  ancient  buildings  is  above 
all  due  to  the  fact,  that  in  the  early  years  of  Christianity  every 
pagan  building  capable  of  containing  a  congregation  was  converted 
into  a  church  or  chapel. 

'  Rome,  acionling  to  an  old  saying,  contains  as  many  churches  as  there  are 
ilays  in  ttie  year.  This  statement  is  too  modest ;  the  "  fireat  catalogue  "  published 
by  Cardinal  Mai  mentions  over  a  thousand  places  of  worship,  while  nine  hun- 
dred and  eighteen  are  registered  in  Professor  Armellini's  "Chiese  di  Roma."  A 
great  many  have  disaitpeared  since  the  first  institution,  and  are  known  only 
from  ruins,  or  inscriptions  and  chronicles.  Others  have  been  disfigured  by 
"restorations."  Without  denying  the  fact  that  tlie  sacred  buildings  of  Rome 
excel  in  (piantity  rather  than  (piality,  theie  is  no  doubt  that  as  a  whole  they 
form  the  best  artistic  and  historic  collection  in  the  world.  Every  age,  from  the 
apostidic  to  the  present,  every  school,  every  style  has  its  representatives  in  the 
chiu-ches  of  Rome.  Let  students,  archaiologists,  and  architects  provide  them- 
selves with  a  chronological  talile  of  its  sacred  buildings,  and  select  the  best 
specimens  for  every  iiuartcr  of  a  century,  begiiniing  with  the  oratory  of  Aquila 
and  Priscilla,  mentioned  in  the  Kpistles,  and  ending  with  the  latest  contemporary 
i-reations,  they  cannot  find  a  better  subject  for  their  education  in  art  and  history.' 

Lanciani. 

Thirty  years  of  Sardinian  rule— 1870-1900 — have  done  more  for 
the  destruction  of  Rome  than  all  the  invasions  of  the  Goths  and 
Vandals.  If  the  Government,  the  Municipality,  and,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, the  Roman  aristocracy,  had  been  united  together  since  1870, 
with  the  Hole  object  of  annihilating  the  beauty  and  interest  of  Rome, 
t  hey  could  not  have  done  it  more  effectually.  The  old  charm  is  gone 
for  ever,  the  whole  aspect  of  the  city  is  changed,  and  the  picturesque- 
ness  of  former  days  must  now  be  sought  in  such  obscure  corners  as 
have  escaped  the  hands  of  the  spoilor.  The  glorious  gardens  of  the 
Villa  Negroni,  Villa  Corsini,  and  Villa  Ludovisi  have  been  anni- 
hilated :  many  precious  street  memorials  of  mediaeval  history  have 
been  swept  away  ;  the  sacred  Promenade  of  the  Sun  has  been 
desecrated  ;  ancient  convents  have  been  levelled  with  the  ground  or 
turned  into  barracks  ;  historic  churches  have  been  yellow-washed  or 
modernised  ;  every  tree  of  imj)ortance  in  the  city — including  the 
noble  ilexes  of  Christina  of  Sweden — has  been  cut  down  ;  the  pagan 
ruins  have  been  denuded  of  all  that  gave  them  picturesqueness  or 


Introductory  1 1 

beauty  ;  and  several  of  the  finest  fountains  have  been  pulled  down 
or  bereaved  of  Jialf  their  waters.  The  Palace  of  the  Cffisars  is 
stripped  of  all  the  flowers  and  shrubs  which  formerly  adorned  it. 
The  glorious  view  from  the  Pincio  has  been  destroyed  by  the  hideous 
barrack-like  houses  built  between  the  Tiber  and  S.  Peter's.  The 
Tiber  itself  has  been  diverted  from  its  exquisitely  picturesque  course, 
to  the  destruction,  amongst  many  other  interesting  memorials,  of  the 
Island,  of  most  of  the  bridges,  of  the  lovely  Farnesina  gardens,  and 
to  the  fatal  injury  of  the  inestimable  frescoes  in  the  palace.  The 
hideous  new  bridges  block  out  the  best  views  on  the  river-banks. 
The  Baths  of  Caracalla,  which,  till  1870,  were  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  spots  in  the  world,  are  now  scarcely  more  attractive  than 
the  ruins  of  a  London  warehouse.  Many  of  the  most  interesting 
temples  have  been  dwarfed  by  the  vulgarest  and  tallest  of  modern 
buildings.  Even  the  Coliseum  has  been  rendered  a  centre  for  fever 
by  aimless  excavations,  and  has  been  deprived  not  only  of  its 
shrines,  but  of  its  marvellous  flora,  though  in  dragging  out  the 
roots  of  its  shrubs  more  of  the  building  was  destroyed  than  would 
have  fallen  naturally  in  five  centuries. 

'  These  are  the  acts  of  a  stupid  and  l)rutal  ignorance,  or  of  a  venal  and  shameful 
speculation  ;  without  excuse  or  palliation,  and  inflicting  on  the  city  thus  sacri- 
ficed an  injury  and  an  outrage  as  gross  as  it  is  pitiful.  The  plea  of  utility  or 
necessity  caiuiot  hold  for  a  moment  here  ;  these  gasworivs,  these  factories,  these 
new  streets,  could,  with  equal  ease  and  usefulness,  have  been  erected  on  waste 
grounds,  where  there  was  little  or  nothing  of  natural  or  architectural  beauty  to 
be  destroyed.  Instead  of  this,  a  perversity  which  amounts  to  malignity,  places 
them  invariably  on  sites  where  either  some  architectural  treasure-house  of  art  is 
swept  away  to  give  room  for  them,  or  else  some  ex(iuisite  view  of  water  or  land 
is  ruined  by  their  deformity  and  stench.' — Ouida. 

'The  works  have  gone  on  without  harmony,  order,  or  governing  principles. 
Palaces  and  small  villas  have  been  permitted  to  be  built  within  the  limits  of  the 
works  of  the  Tilier,  which  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  expropriate  ;  walls  have 
been  erected  which  have  had  to  be  demolished  to  make  room  for  the  piers  of  the 
new  bridges  ;  the  Tiber  is  shut  In  by  adyke  without  any  sluices  having  been  made  ; 
...  in  a  word,  tens  of  millions  have  been  squandered  by  the  municipality  and 
the  State  without  any  plain  or  co-ordinate  idea.' — Popolo  Romano. 

'A  will,  with  a  genius,  might  have  grasped  the  idea  embodied,  or  hidden,  in 
medireval  Rome.iand  unfolded  it,  beautified  and  dignified,  over  the  vacant  spaces 
of  the  Seven  Hills.  Italy  was  ready,  within  generous  limits,  to  be  paymaster. 
Italians  longed  for  Rome  as  Rome  was.  The  Roman  Town  Council  had  be- 
stowed upon  them  for  their  royal  capital  a  paltry  and  spurious  copy  of  Paris 
boulevards.  Nothing  so  pretentious,  commonplace,  unspiritual  and  dull  has 
ever  been  produced  as  neo-regal  Rome.  In  addition  to  a  display  of  poverty  of 
artistic  ideas  almost  amounting  to  genius,  the  Roman  municipality  is,  moreover, 
acknowledged  to  have  set  at  defiance  all  the  rules  of  recent  sanitary  science  in  a 
manner  incomparably  its  own.' — The  Times  (leading  article),  January  10,  1888. 

'  The  blame  must  be  cast  especially  on  the  members  of  the  Roman  aristocracy. 
.  .  .  We  have  seen  three  of  them  sell  the  very  gardens  which  surrounded  their 
city  mansions,  allowing  these  mansions  to  be  contaminated  by  the  contact  of 
ignoble  tenement  houses.  We  have  seen  every  single  one  of  the  patrician  villas — 
the  Patrizi,  the  Sciarra,  the  Massimo,  the  Lucernari,  the  Mirafiori,  the  Wolkonsky, 
the  Giustiniani,  the  Torlonia,  the  Campana,  the  San  Kaustino— destroyed,  their 
casinos  dismantled,  and  their  beautiful  old  trees  burnt  into  charcoal. '—2/a«acwu. 


12  Walks  in  Rome 

Ndtliiiitrcan  po.ssil)ly  be  more  revoltingly  hideous  or  vulgar  than 
the  buildings  of  modern  Rome  since  the  change  of  government, 
'when  Home,  poorest  of  cities,  has  been  trying  to  appear  rich.' 

'  The  construction  of  houses  in  tlie  new  part  of  the  city,  and  especially  in  those 
sections  wliich  have  been  demolislied  and  relniilt,  has  been  carried  on  under 
regulations  so  bad,  or  so  easily  evaded,  that  the  new  ([uarter  is  the  most  dis- 
unueful  apiieudix  to  a  i.'reat  city  to  be  found  in  all  Europe.  The  liouses  are 
liuKf  tasteless  stucco  palaces,  so  hisih  as  to  shut  off  the  sunlight— necessary 
alM)ve  all  things  in  Rome— from  the  lower  storeys  of  the  houses  opposite.  They 
are  ill-constructed,  so  that  in  more  than  one  case  they  have  fallen  into  the 
spaces  in  front  of  them,  and  llinisy  and  ill-contrived,  so  that  one  hears  the 
common  dmnestic  sounds  from  apartment  to  apartment,  and  from  storey  to  storey. 
There  is  the  least  possible  attention  to  the  sanitary  recjuisites  which  decency 
would  i)ermit— in  short,  the  (juarter  is  a  hu<;e  congeries  of  "jerry"  dwellings, 
built  on  speculation,  and  in  which  no  person  who  regards  personal  comfort  would 
continue  to  reside,  except  on  compulsion,  and  it  is,  in  general,  a;sthetically  and 
economically  a  disgrace  to  Home.'—  The,  Times,  June  15,  18S7. 

'The  municipal  authorities  of  Rome,  when  it  became  the  national  capital,  had 
the  most  si)lendi<l  opportunity  to  distinguish  themselves  in  the  future  as  builders 
that  any  corporate  body  ever  had.  With  taste  and  the  opportunities  the  muni- 
cipal council  actually  enjoyed,  namely,  unlimited  space,  a  site  of  unrivalled 
jiiitMrcsiiuencss,  the  secular  ideal  of  the  landscape  painters  of  all  countries,  the 
lavish  enthusiasm  of  a  young  and  hopeful  nationality,  rich  in  hope  and  the  re- 
sources of  the  sanguineifuture,  tlie  nucleus  of  a  sober  and  dignified  arcliitecture, 
with  almost  unlimited  responsibility  over  the  resoTirces  of  the  city,  and  the  aid 
of  those  of  the  nation,  Rome  miglit  and  shoidd  have  been  made  the  most  beauti- 
ful city  in  the  world.  What  the  municipality  has  done  is  to  make  it  impossible, 
without  the  intervention  of  a  great  earthquake,  that  it  ever  should  be  anything 
but  the  most  absurd  of  all  the  cheap  imitations  of  Varis.'— The  Times,  .Tanuary  10, 
1SS8. 

It  is  typical  of  the  absurd  misuse  of  the  funds  at  the  disposal  of 
the  municipality,  when,  in  some  remote  square,  fifty  able-bodied 
men  are  seen  lying  upon  their  stomachs,  engaged  in  picking  out 
with  penknives  the  liny  mosses  and  grasses  between  the  stones  of 
the  pavement.  In  the  same  way  hundreds  of  men  are  employed  in 
perpetually  rooting  up  all  the  grass  and  flowers  along  the  hedges 
in  the  outskirts  of  Kome,  and  keeping  them  down  to  tlie  level  of 
hideous  dust-heaps.  In  Sardinian  Rome  a  blade  of  grass  or  a  wild- 
flower  is  characterised  as  an  '  indecenza.' 

Victor  Emmanuel,  by  solemn  speeches  at  Florence,  "when  re- 
ceiving the  Roman  pUbiscite,  and  by  speeches  at  Rome  in  parliament, 
promised  over  and  over  again  that  the  property  and  privileges  of 
Catholic  institutions  should  be  respected  and  secured.  Yet,  in 
October  IHTI,  the  papal  palace  of  the  Quirinal  was  broken  open 
and  seized.  Then  came  the  spoliation  and  ruin  of  the  eight  great 
convents — S.  Maria  in  Vallicella,  SS.  Apostoli,  S.  Silvestro  in  Capite, 
S.  Silvestro  di  Monte  Cavallo,  S.  Maria  delle  Yergine,  S.  Andrea 
della  Yalle,  S.  Maria  Minerva,  and  S.  Agostino.  A  seizure  of  the 
gardens  and  monasteries  of  nuns  followed  ;  and  on  May  27,  1873, 
the  iniquitous  bill  was  passed  which  drove  the  monks  and  nuns 
from  their  homes,  robbing  them  of  their  doweries  by  a  process 
which  was  simply  theft,  making  them  dependent  upon  ill-paid 
pensions  varying  from  sixpence  to  tenpence  a  day,  and  putting 
their  lands  and  houses  up  to  public  auction. 


Introductory  13 

No  attempt  has  been  made  in  these  pages  to  describe  the  country 
round  the  city,  beyond  a  few  of  the  most  ordinary  drives  and  ex- 
cursions outside  the  walls.  But  the  opening:  of  the  railways  to 
Naples,  Civita  Vecchia,  Terracina,  and  Viteibo  have  now  brought 
a  vast  variety  of  new  excursions  within  the  range  of  a  day's  ex- 
pedition. The  papal  citadel  of  Anagni,  the  temples  of  Co'ri,  the 
Cyclopean  remains  of  Segni,  Alatri,  Norba,  Cervetri,  and  Corneto, 
the  gorge  of  Civita  Castellana  with  the  wild  heights  of  Soracte, 
Anguillara  and  Bracciano  by  their  lovely  lake,  may  now  become 
as  well  known  as  the  oft-visited  Tivoli,  Ostia,  and  Albano.  They 
are  all  described  in  '  Days  near  Rome,'  and  (more  briefly)  in  'Cities 
of  Central,'  or  of  '  Southern  Italy.' 

From  the  experience  of  many  years  the  writer  can  truly  say  that 
the  more  intimately  the  scenes  of  Rome  become  known,  the  more 
deeply  they  become  engraven  upon  the  inmost  affections.  It  is  not 
a  hurried  visit  to  the  Coliseum,  with  guide-book  and  cicerone, 
which  will  enable  one  to  drink  in  the  fulness  of  its  beauty ;  but 
a  long  and  familiar  friendship  with  its  solemn  walls,  in  the  ever- 
varying  grandeur  of  golden  sunlight  and  grey  shadow — till,  after 
many  days'  companionship,  its  stones  become  dear  as  those  of  no 
other  building  ever  can  be  ;  and  it  is  not  a  rapid  inspection  of  the 
huge  cheerless  basilicas  and  churches,  with  their  gaudy  marbles 
and  gilded  ceilings  and  ill-suited  monuments,  which  arouses  your 
sympathy,  but  the  long  investigation  of  their  precious  fragments  of 
ancient  cloister  and  sculptured  fountain,  of  mouldering  fresco  and 
mediaeval  tomb,  of  mosaic-crowned  gateway,  and  palm-shadowed 
garden  ;  and  the  gradually  acquired  knowledge  of  the  wondrous 
story  which  clings  around  each  of  these  ancient  things,  and  which 
tells  how  each  has  a  motive  and  meaning  entirely  unsuspected  and 
unseen  by  the  passing  eye. 

'  Yet  to  the  wondrous  S.  Peter's  and  yet  to  the  solemn  Rotunda, 

Minglinj;  with  heroes  and  gods,  yet  to  the  Vatican  walls, 
Yet  we  may  fco,  and  recline,  while  a  whole  mighty  world  seems  ahove  us, 

Gathered  and  fixed  to  all  time  into  one  roofing  supreme  ; 
Yet  may  we,  thinking  on  these  things,  exclude  what  is  meaner  around  us.' 

— Cloti/jh. 

Those  who  wish  to  fix  the  scenes  and  events  of  Roman  history 
securely  in  their  minds  will  do  best  perhaps  to  take  them  in  groups. 
Suppose,  for  instance,  that  any  travellers  wish  to  study  the  history 
of  S.  Laurence,  let  them  first  visit  the  beautiful  little  chapel  in  the 
Vatican,  where  the  whole  story  of  his  life  is  portrayed  in  the  lovely 
frescoes  of  Angelico  da  Fiesole.  Let  them  stand  on  the  greensward 
by  the  Navicella,  where  he  distributed  the  treasures  of  the  Church 
in  front  of  the  house  of  S.  Ciriaca.  Let  them  walk  through  the 
crypto-porticus  of  the  Palatine,  up  which  he  was  dragged  to  his 
trial.  Let  them  lean  against  the  still-existing  marble  bar  of  the 
basilica,  where  he  knelt  to  receive  his  sentence.  Let  them  visit 
S.  Lorenzo  in  Fonte,  where  he  was  imprisoned,  and  baptized  his 
fellow-prisoners  in  the  fountain  which  gives  the  church  its  name. 
Let  them  go  hence  to  S.  Lorenzo  Pane  e  Perna,  built  upon  the  scene 


14  Walks  in  Rome 

of  liis  terrific  martyrdom,  which  is  there  portrayed  in  a  fresco.  Let 
them  see  his  traditional  chains  and  the  supposed  gridiron  of  his 
Mift'cring  at  S.  Lorenzo  in  Lucina.  An(i,  lastly,  at  the  great  basilica 
of  .s.  Lorenzo  fiiori  le  Mura,  let  them  admire  the  mighty  church 
which  fur  twelve  hundred  years  has  marked  the  site  of  that  little 
chapel  which  Constantine  built  near  the  lowlj'  catacomb  grave  in 
wiiich  the  martyr  was  laid  by  his  deacon  Hippolytus. 

Let  us  turn  to  a  very  diflerent  character — Kienzi.  How  vivid  will 
his  story  seem  to  those  who  go  first  to  the  old  tower  of  the  Crescenzi, 
near  the  Bocca  della  Verith,  which  belonged  to  his  ancestors,  and 
then  to  the  street  behind  S.  Tomniaso,  where  he  was  born — the  son 
of  a  publican  and  a  washerwoman,  for  to  such  humble  offices  were 
the  Crescenzi  then  reduced.  They  will  find  Rienzi  again  at  the  little 
Church  of  S.  Angelo  in  Pescheria,  whither  he  summoned  the  citizens 
at  midnight  to  hold  a  meeting  for  the  re-establishment  of  the  Good 
Estate,  and  in  which  he  kept  the  Vigil  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  at 
the  Portico  of  Octavia,  on  whose  ancient  walls  he  painted  his  famous 
allegory  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Romans  under  the  oppression  of  the 
great  patrician  families,  thus  flaunting  defiance  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Savelli,  who  could  look  down  upon  the  picture  from  the  windows 
of  their  palace  above  the  Theatre  of  Marcellus.  At  S.  Giorgio  in 
Velabro  the  pediment  still  remains  under  the  old  terra-cotta  cornice, 
where  an  inscription  proclaimed  that  the  reign  of  the  Good  Estate 
was  begun.  We  must  follow  llienzi  thence,  bare-headed,  but  in  full 
armour,  to  the  Capitol  and  to  the  Lateran,  where  he  took  his  mystic 
bath  in  the  great  vase  of  green  basalt  in  which  Constantine  is  falsely 
said  to  have  been  baptized.  We  must  think  of  his  flight,  after  his 
short-lived  glories  were  over,  by  the  light  of  the  burning  palace, 
down  the  steps  of  the  Capitol,  and  of  his  wife  looking  out  of  the 
window  to  witness  his  murder  at  the  foot  of  the  great  basaltic 
lioues.s,  which  looks  scarcely  older  now  than  on  the  night  on  which 
she  was  sprinkled  with  his  blood.  Lastly,  we  may  remember  that 
his  body  was  hung,  a  target  for  the  stones  of  those  by  whom  he  had 
been  so  lately  adored,  in  the  little  piazza  of  S.  Marcello  in  Corso, 
and  that,  in  strange  contradiction,  it  was  eventually  burnt  by  the 
Jews  in  the  then  desolate  mausoleum  of  Augustus. 

It  is  by  thus  entwining  the  Roman  sights  with  one  another,  till 
they  become  the  continuous  links  of  a  story,  that  they  are  best 
fixed  in  the  mind.  They  should  also  be  read  about,  not  merely  in 
histories  or  guide-books,  but  in  the  works  of  those  who,  from  long 
residence  in  Haly  and  the  deep  love  which  they  bear  to  it,  have 
become  impressed  with  the  true  Italian  spirit.  The  most  important 
books  on  Roman  subjects  are  the  'Ancient  Rome,'  and  still  more 
the  '  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome,'  of  Rudolfo  Lanciani.  Then,  much 
delightful  reading  may  be  found  in  the  many  works  of  Gregorovius, 
from  his  history  of  the  'City  of  Rome'  to  his  enchanting  'Latein- 
ische  Sommer,'  and  his  graphic  little  sketches  a  propos  of  burial- 
places  of  the  Popes.  The  writer  has  often  been  laughed  at  for 
recommending  and  quoting  novels  in  speaking  of  Rome  and  its 
interests.      Yet  in   few  graver  works  are  there  such  glimpses  of 


Introductory  15 

Eome,  of  Roman  scenery,  Roman  character,  Roman  manners,  to 
be  obtained,  as  in  Hawtliorne's  '  Marble  Faun,'  which  English 
publishers  so  foolislily  call  'Transformation;'  in  'Mademoiselle 
Mori  ; '  in  the  '  Improvisatore '  of  Hans  Christian  Andersen  ;  in 
the  'Daniella'  of  George  Sand  and  the  pagan -spirited  'Ariadne' 
of  Ouida.  Still,  most  of  all  should  English  and  American  visitors 
consult  the  works  of  the  great  living  archaeologist  Lanciani  — 
especially,  perhaps,  the  more  portable  volume  on  '  The  Ruins  and 
Excavations  of  Ancient  Rome,'  than  which  nothing  has  been 
written  equally  interesting  and  instructive. 

So  much  has  been  written  about  Rome  that,  in  quoting  from  the 
remarks  of  others  in  these  volumes,  selection  has  always  been  the 
great  difficulty,  and  the  rule  has  been  followed  that  the  most 
learned  books  are  not  always  the  most  instructive  or  the  most 
interesting.  It  has  been  sought  to  gather  up  and  present  to  the 
reader  such  a  succession  of  word-pictures  from  various  authors  as 
may  not  only  make  the  scenes  of  Rome  more  interesting  at  the  time, 
but  may  deepen  their  impression  afterwards  ;  but  no  endeavour  has 
been  made  to  enter  into  deep  archaeological  questions,  to  define  the 
exact  limits  of  the  wall  of  Servius  Tullius,  or  to  hazard  a  fresh 
opinion  as  to  how  the  earth  accumulated  in  the  Roman  Forum,  or 
whence  the  pottery  came  out  of  which  the  Monte  Testaccio  has 
arisen.  The  best  Roman  archseology  is  that  which  is  unlimited  as 
to  ages,  which  is  allowed  to  grasp  as  much  as  it  can  of  the  myriad 
human  sympathies  which  Rome  has  to  offer  or  awaken  ;  for  thus, 
and  only  thus,  can  it  do  a  great  work,  in  arousing  highest  thoughts 
and  aims  as  it  opens  the  ancient  treasure-house,  and  teaches  the 
vast  experience  of  more  than  two  thousand  years.  Then,  as  John 
Addington  Symonds  describes — 

'  Then,  from  the  very  soil  of  silent  Rome, 
You  shall  grow  wise,  and,  walking,  live  again 

The  lives  of  buried  peoples,  and  Ijecome 

A  child  by  right  of  that  eternal  home, 
Cradle  and  grave  of  empires,  on  whose  walls 
The  sun  himself  subdued  to  reverence  falls.' 

'  Rome,'  as  Winckelmann  says,  '  is  the  high  school  which  is  open 
to  all  the  world.'  It  can  supply  every  mental  requirement  if  men 
will  only  apply  at  the  right  corner  of  the  fountain.  'Certainly,' 
said  Goethe,  '  people  out  of  Rome  have  no  idea  how  one  is  schooled 
tliere.  One  has  to  be  born  again,  so  to  speak,  and  one  learns  to 
look  back  upon  one's  old  ideas  as  upon  the  shoes  of  childhood.' 
Still,  the  travellers  who  enjoy  Rome  most  are  those  who  have 
studied  it  thoroughly  before  leaving  their  own  homes.  In  the 
multiplicity  of  engagements  in  which  a  foreigner  is  soon  involved, 
there  is  little  time  for  historical  research,  and  few  are  able  to  do 
more  than  read  up  their  guide-books,  so  that  half  the  pleasure  and 
all  the  advantage  of  a  visit  to  Rome  are  thrown  away  ;  while  those 
who  arrive  with  the  foundation  already  prepared,  easily  and  natur- 
ally acquire,  amid  the  scenes  around  which  the  history  of  the  world 


16  Walks  in  Rome 

revolved,  an  amount  of  information  which  will  be  astonishing  even 
to  themselves. 

The  pa;,'an  monuments  of  Rome  have  been  written  of  and  dis- 
cussed ever  since  tliey  were  built,  and  the  catacombs  have  lately 
found  historians  and  guides  both  able  and  willing ;  about  the  later 
Christian  monuments  far  less  has  hitherto  been  said.  There  is  a 
natural  shrinking  in  the  English  Protestant  mind  from  all  that  is 
connected  with  the  story  of  the  saints,  especially  the  later  saints 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  Many  believe,  with  Addison,  that 
•  the  Christian  antiquities  are  so  embroiled  in  fable  and  legend,  that 
one  derives  but  little  satisfaction  from  searching  into  them.'  And 
yet,  as  Mrs.  Jameson  observes,  when  all  that  the  controver.sialist 
can  desire  is  taken  away  from  the  reminiscences  of  those  who,  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  mind,  have  consecrated  the  homes  of  their 
earthly  life,  how  much  remains  ! — 'so  much  to  awaken,  to  elevate, 
to  touch  the  heart  ;  so  much  that  will  not  fade  from  the  memory  ; 
so  much  that  may  make  a  part  of  our  after-life.' 

If  we  would  profit  by  Rome  to  the  uttermost,  we  must  put  away 
all  prejudices,  whether  Roman  Catholic  or  Protestant,  and  we  must 
believe  that  it  is  not  in  one  class  of  Roman  interests  alone  that 
much  is  to  be  learnt.  Those  who  devote  themselves  exclusively  to 
the  relics  of  the  kings  and  the  republic,  to  the  walls,  or  the  vexed 
questions  concerning  the  Porta  Capena,  and  who  see  no  interest  in 
the  reminiscences  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  the  Popes,  take  only  half 
of  the  blessing  of  Rome,  and  the  half  which  has  the  least  of  humnn 
sympathy  in  it.  Arclucology  and  history  should  help  the  beauties 
of  Rome  to  leave  their  noblest  impress,  in  arousing  feelings  worthy 
of  the  greatest  of  pagan  heroes,  of  the  noblest  of  Latin  poets,  of 
the  most  inspired  of  sculptors  and  painters,  as  well  as  of  Paul  of 
Tarsus,  who  passed  into  Rome  under  the  Arch  of  Drusus,  upon 
whom  the  shadow  of  the  tomb  of  Caius  Cestius  fell  as  he  pas.sed 
out  of  Rome  to  his  martyrdom  in  that  procession  of  which  it  is  the 
sole  surviving  witness,  and  who,  in  Rome,  is  sleeping  now,  with  a 
thousand  other  saints,  till,  as  S.  Ambrose  reminds  us,  he  shall 
awaken  there  at  the  Great  Resurrection. 


CHAPTER  I 

DULL-USEFUL   INFORMATION 

The  Population  of  Rome  in  1897  was  489,905. 

Hotels. — For  passing  travellers  or  bachelors,  the  best  are  :  Hotel  d'Angleterre, 
Bocca  di  Leone  ;  and  Hotel  de  Rome,  Corso.  The  Hotel  de  Russie  (close  to  the 
Piazza  del  Popolo)  is  very  uomfortabie  and  well  managed.  Hotel  de  Londres, 
Piazza  di  Spagna,  is  suited  for  a  long  residence,  and  is  very  central.  The  Hotel 
Europa  is  also  in  the  Piazza  di  Spagna.  The  Hotel  Qnirinale,  in  the  Via  Nazi- 
onale,  near  the  railway  station,  is  the  largest  hotel  in  Rome.  Facing  the  station 
is  the  large  new  Hotel  Continentale.  The  luxurious,  expensive,  and  fashionalile 
Grand  Hotel  is  in  the  Piazza  dei  Termine.  Hotel  Hassler,  Trinita  de'  Monti,  is 
in  a  beautiful  situation,  but  the  rooms  at  the  back  are  to  be  avoided.  The  Hotel 
Royal  is  in  the  modern  Via  Venti  Settenibre.  The  well-managed  but  expensive 
Hotel  Bristol  is  in  the  Piazza  Barberini.  The  Hotel  Eden,  Via  Porta  Pinciana, 
is  well  situated  between  the  old  and  new  town  streets.  The  Hotel  d'ltalie,  Via 
Quattro  Fontane,  and  tlie  Hotel  Vittoria,  Via  Due  Macelli,  are  very  comfortable 
and  reasonable,  and  the  former  is  especially  well  managed  and  suited  for  a  long 
stay.  The  Hotel  Molaro  is  at  the  corner  of  the  Via  Gregoriana.  The  Hotel 
ilarini  is  in  the  noisy  Via  Tritone.  The  Hotel  d'Allemagne,  Via  Condotti,  and 
the  Anglo-Americano,  Via  Frattina,  are  much  frequented  by  Americans.  The 
Hotel  Minerva,  Piazza  della  Minerva,  near  the  Pantheon,  is  more  of  a  com- 
mercial inn,  but  good  and  reasonable,  and  suited  to  those  who  merely  come  to 
Rome  to  study  art  or  antiquities.  The  Hotel  Nazionale  in  the  Piazza  Monte 
Citorio  is  a  good  inn  ;  here  also  is  the  Hotel  Milano. 

Pensions  are  much  wanted  in  Rome.  The  best  are  those  of  Miss  Smith,  47  Corso  ; 
Jlrs.  Chapman,  76  Via  S.  Niccolo  da  Tolentino;  Madame  Lomi  (English),  36  Via 
Tritone  Nuovo  ;  Pension  Hayden,  42  Piazza  Poll ;  Pension  Gianelli,  15  Via  Ludo- 
visi  ;  Madame  Tellembach,  7o  Due  Macelli ;  Madame  FrauQois,  47  Corso  ;  Madame 
Michel,  72  Via  Sistina  ;  Pension  du  Sud,  Via  Lombarda ;  Bethell,  41  Via  Babuino. 

Apartments  have  lately  greatly  increased  in  price.  An  apartment  for  a  very 
small  family  in  one  of  the  best  situations  can  seldom  be  obtained  for  less  than 
from  300  to  500  francs  a  month.  The  English  almost  all  prefer  to  reside  in  the 
neighbourhiiixl  of  the  Piazza  di  Spagna.  The  best  situations  are  the  sunny  side 
of  the  Piazza  itself,  the  Trinity  de'  Monti,  the  Via  Gregoriana,  and  Via  Sistina. 
Less  good  situations  are  the  Corso,  Via  Condotti,  Via  Due  Macelli,  Via  Frattina, 
Capo  le  Case,  Via  Felice,  Via  Quattro  Fontane,  Via  Babuino,  and  Via  della  Croce 
— in  which  last,  however,  are  many  very  good  apartments.  In  the  last  few  years 
many  apartments  have  lieen  prepared  for  letting  in  the  Via  Nazionale  and  other 
new  streets,  but  the  situation  is  most  undesiral)le,  except  for  the  families  of 
artists  whose  studios  are  in  that  direction.  On  the  other  side  of  the  Corso  suites 
of  rooms  are  nmch  less  expensive;  but  they  are  not  convenient  for  persons  who 
malie  a  short  residence  in  Rome.  In  many  of  the  palaces  are  large  apartments 
which  are  let  by  the  year.  In  the  new  town,  houses  are  universally  ill-built,  ill- 
drained,  and  ill-ventilated. 

Carriages.— I  horse,  the  course,  80  c.  ;  the  hour,  2  frs.  ;  at  night,  1  to  2.  Coupcj, 
1  to  2.30 ;  at  night,  1.30  to  2.30  ;  with  2  horses,  2  to  3  ;  at  night,  2.50  to  3.50. 

Bicycles  may  be  hired  at  112  and  488  Corso ;  114  Via  Quattro  Fontane ;  and 
260  Corso  Vittorio  Emanuele. 

VOL.   I.  ^^-  B 


18  Walks  in  Rome 

RestaurantK.—Corr&detti,  81  Via  della  Croce.  Inferior,  but  much  frequented 
liy  Italians  and  by  artists,  Berardi,  75  Via  della  Croce  ;  Fagiano,  Piazza  Colonna  ; 
Itordone,  Via  Nazionalo  ;  Ranieri,  26  Via  Mario  de'  Fiori,  Nazionale,  109  Via  del 
Seniinario,  near  the  Pantheon. 

Ca/Ivi.— Caffe  di  Roma,  426  Corso  ;  Caff6  Nazionale,  179  Corso ;  Caffo  d'ltalia, 
133  Corso ;  Caflf6  Greco,  86  Via  Condotti.i 

Tea-Booms.— 22  Piazza  di  Spagna. 

Trattorie  send  out  dinners  to  families  in  apartments  in  a  tin  box  with  a  stove, 
for  which  the  iK-arer  calls  the  next  morning.  A  dinner  for  six  francs  ought  to 
be  sutUeient  for  three  persons,  and  to  leave  enough  for  luncheon  the  next  day. 

English  Church,  All  Saints,  in  the  Via  Babuino,  on  the  left.  Services  at  8.::() 
A.M. ,11  A.M.,  and  3  P.M.  on  Sundays  ;  daily  service  twice  on  week-days.  American 
Church  of  S.  Paul,  Via  Nazionale,  services,  8.30,  10.4.5,  and  4.  Trinity  Church, 
Piazza  S.  Silvestro.  Presbyterian  Church,  7  Via  Venti  Settemlire.  Vaudois 
Chxirch,  1(10  Via  Nazionale,  opposite  the  Theatre.  English  Catholic  Church, 
Piazza  S.  Silvestro.    English  Convent,  16  Via  S.  Sebastiano. 

English  Archoeological  Society. — 16  Via  dei  Barberi. 

Winter  Meetings  of  -4rcadm. —''lonvent  of  S.  Carlo  in  Corso. 

Omnibuses  start  from—  (and  vice  versa). 

Piazza  di  Spagna  to  S.  Pietro. 

Piazza  del  Popolo  to  Piazza  Venezia,  by  the  Corso. 

The  Railway  Station,  by  Piazza  di  Spagna  and  Piazza 
Barl)erini. 

Ponte  Molle,  by  Via  Flaminia  (tramway). 
Piazza  S.  Silvestro  to        Piazza  Vittorio  Emanuele,   by  the  Via    Quafctro 

Fontane. 
Piazza  Rieuzi  to  Piazza  S.  Silvestro. 

Piazza  Navona  to  Piazza  Vittorio  Fimanuele. 

Piazza  Venezia  to  S.  Pietro. 

Piazza  del  Popolo,  by  the  Ripetta. 

Piazza  Cavour,  Prati  di  Castello. 

Railway  Station,  t)y  Via  Nazionale  (tramway). 

Via  Cavour,  S.  .1.  Lateran  (tramway). 
Piazza  Montanara  to         S.  Paolo  fuori  le  Mura  (tramway). 

Via  Porta  S.  Lorenzo,  by  the  Pantheon. 
Piazza  Cancellaria  to         Porta  Pia,  by  Piazza  Colonna  and  Via  Tritone. 

Piazza  Vittorio  Emanuele,  by  the  Forum  of  'J'rajan. 

Piazza  S.  Pantaleo,  Coliseum,  S.  J.  Lateian. 
S.  Pantaleo  to  Porta  Salaria,  by  the  Fountain  of  Trevi. 

S.  Giovanni  Laterano,  by  the  Forum  of  Tnijan  and 
tbe  Coliseum. 

Piazza  Termini,  Cemetery  of  S.  Lorenzo. 
S.  Apollinare  to  Piazza  Giiglielmo  Pepe,   by  the  Gesii,  Forum   of 

Trajan,  and  the  Monti. 
Forum  of  Trajan  to  Piazza  dei  Quiriti  ai  Prati,  by  the  Via  Botteghe 

Oscure,  Ponte  S.  Angelo,  and  Porta  Angelica. 
Via  Quirinale  to  S.  Agnese  fuori  le  Mura. 

Piazza  del  Cinquecento  to  Cemetery  of  S.  Lorenzo  (tramway). 

The  Steam  Tramrvay  to  'J'ivoli  starts  from — 

Porta  S.  Lorenzo,  Ist-class  return,  6  fr. 

2nd-class  return,  4. .00  fr. 

r/ieaYre»'.— Nazionale,  Via  Nazionale  ;  Argentina  (opera),  Via  Torre  Argentina  ; 
Costanzi,  Via  Firenze  ;  Valle  (comedy).  Via  dellii  Valle  ;  Metastasio,  Via  Palla- 
corda  ;  Manzoni,  Via  Url)ana  ;  Quirino,  Via  delle  Vergine  ;  Rossini  (marionettes). 
Via  di  S.  Chiara ;  Correa,  in  the  Mausoleum  of  Augustus,  Via  dei  Pontifici. 

1  "  The  Caffe  Greco,  founded  in  the  day  of  Salvator  Rosa,  has  become  a  German 
pastry-cookery,  and  the  place  where  once  all  the  artists  of  Rome  used  to  meet, 
al'in?  with  poets  and  the  minor  brood  of  the  Muses,  is  no  longer  to  be  recognised 
by  the  relic-hunter."— tT.  J.  Stillman. 


Hints  for  Daily  Life  19 

Church  Music.-T\\e  best,  except  at  the  rare  services  in  the  Sistiue  (.'hapcl,  is 
to  be  heard  on  Sunday  mornings  at  tlie  German  Church  of  S.  Maria  dell'  Aninia. 

Lectures.— No  English  visitors,  with  time  at  their  disposal,  should  miss  a 
chance  of  being  present  at  the  lectures  occasionally  given  in  the  Forum,  etc., 
by  the  eminent  archaeologist  Lanciani  (liy  far  tlie  Ijcst  living  authority  on  Roman 
antiquities),  for  the  benefit  of  the  Arclucolo^ioal  Society.  Profess«>r  Keynaud, 
73  Via  Due  Macelli,  gives  lectures  on  the  lines  laid  down  by  Lanciani,  and  will 
arrange  for  excursions  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Foxhounds  meet  twice  a  week  in  the  Campagna.  The  meets  are  posted  at 
Plate's  Library.    Throw  oft  at  11. 

Society  for  Prevention  of  Crxielty  to  Animals.— 12  Via  S.  Giacomo. 

Post  Office.— Tiazza.  S.  Silvestro,  close  to  the  Corso,  open  from  8  A.M.  to  9.30 
P.M.  Letters  for  England  or  America  (on  Sundays,  Tuesdays,  and  Thursdays, 
via  Havre,  at  9  p.m.)  should  be  posted  at  the  head  office  before  1  p.m.  or  i)  p.m. 

Telegraph  Office.— 'Piazza,  S.  Silvestro.  Branch  Offices,  20  Piazza  Barberini ;  35 
Piazza  Rusticucci ;  123  Via  Venti  Settembre  ;  and  "in  the  Piazza  delle  Terme. 

British  Embassy. — At  Porta  Pia,  Via  Venti  Settemlire. 

British  Consulate. — 96  Piazza  S.  Clandio. 

American  Legation. — Palazzo  Amici,  16  Piazza  S.  Bernardo. 

American  Consulate. — 16  Piazza  S.  Bernardo. 

Bankers. — Cook  &  Son,  1  Piazza  di  Spagna ;  Sebaste  &  Reale,  20  Piazza  di 
Spagna ;  Nast-Kolb  &  Schumacher,  87  Via  S.  Claudio ;  Plowden,  166  Piazza  S. 
Claudio  ;  Franz  Pioesler,  96  Piazza  S.  Claudio. 

Customs. — Everything  in  regard  to  Custom  duties  is  now  arranged  in  Rome  for 
the  minimum  of  profit  to  the  State  and  the  maximum  of  annoyance  to  travellers. 
The  Italian  theory  that  works  of  art  belong  of  inherent  right  to  the  country 
where  they  were  created  is  carried  to  an  excess  which  is  ridiculous.  A  permis- 
sion from  the  Museo  is  necessary  for  every  article  of  vertu  which  a  foreigner 
who  has  been  residing  in  Rome  wishes  to  remove  to  his  own  country  ;  and  a 
heavy  duty  is  charged,  even  on  every  broken  cup  or  plate  taken  out  of  Italy,  to 
the  ruin  of  the  Antiquarii.,  who  formerly  drove  such  a  flourishing  trade  in  Rome. 

For  sending  Boxes  to  England.— Li:mou,  Piazza  di  Spagna;  Franz  Roesler,  6A 
Via  Condotti. 

For  sending  out  Boxes  to  Borne. — Pitt  &  Scott,  23  Cannon  Street,  London. 

Physicians.— Brs.  Munthe,  26  Piazza  di  Spagna  ;  Baccelli,  2  Piazza  Campi- 
telli  ;  Erhardt,  23  Piazza  di  Spagna ;  Spurway,  22  Bocca  di  Leone  ;  Charles,  72 
Via  S.  Nicolo  da  Tolentino. 

Homoeopathic. — Dr.  Liberali,  101  Corso  Vittorio  Emanuele. 

Oculist. — Giuiseppe  Norsa,  237  Via  Nazionale ;  Krahnstover,  5  Via  Venti 
Settembre. 

Sick  Nxirses  are  to  be  heard  of  at  St.  Paul's  Home,  Via  Palestro,  where  also 
patients  (without  infectious  disorders)  are  received  and  nursed, — a  great  boon 
to  those  taken  ill  in  hotels. 

Dentists. — Dr.  Curtis,  93  Piazza  di  Spagna ;  Dr.  Chamberlain,  114  Via  Babuino. 

Chemists. — Roberts,  36  Piazza  Lucina ;  Sininlierghi,  65  Via  Condotti,  and 
Borioni,  98  Via  Babuino,  are  usually  employed  by  English  visitors  ;  but  the 
Italian  chemists'  shops  in  the  Corso  are  as  good,  and  much  less  expensive. 
Homoeopathic. — Aleori,  S  Via  Frattina. 

House  Agents. — Contini,  6  Via  Condotti ;  Toti,  54  Piazza  di  Spagna. 

Orders  for  Sketching  in  the  Forum,  Piilace  of  Cscsars,  and  other  ruins  must  be 
obtained  (free)  at  the  office  of  the  Ministero,  Piazza  della  Minerva,  on  the  left  of 
the  church. 

Circulating  Library. — Piale,  1  and  2  Piazza  di  Spagna,  has  a  well-managed 


20  Walks  in  Rome 

liliiiiry  of  20,000  volumes,  aiul  a  lar>re  assortment  of  Ma^cazincs  ami  Reviews  in 
ilitfereiit  lansuanes.  All  important  new  works  are  ailded  on  publication.  The 
latest  English  teleirrams  are  posted,  and  noti.es  of  the  '  fnnziom'  are  always  to  be 
found  here.    Miss  Wilson,  22  Pia/./.a.di  Sjiii-na,  has  a  small  well-managed  library. 

iloneii-Changer.—Carhncci,  88  Piazza  di  .Spa!,'na. 

Agencies.— Cook,  2  Piazza  di  Spagna  ;  Gaze,  10  Piazza  di  Spagna. 

J5oo**eH«cx.— Piale,  Piazza  di  Spagna ;  Spithoever,  Piazza  di  Spagna  ;  Loescher, 
308  Corso  ;  Bocca,  210  Corso  ;  Paravia,  56  Piazza  SS.  Apostoli. 

Teachers  of  Italian.— Vroiessor  Rosa  Yagnozzi,  294  Via  Cavour  ;  Mademoiselle 
Pauloni,  Via  Aurelia  ;  Signer  Genzardi,  16  Via  dei  Pontetici. 

IJveni  Stables.— GASv^rim,  Piazza  Barberini ;  Fenini,  outside  Porta  del  Popolo ; 
Pieretti"  (riding-master),  Palazzo  Rospigliosi. 

Plwtogiaphers.—For  Portraits:  Snseipi,  7  Via  del  Quirinale ;  Le  Lieure,  19 
Via  del  Jlortaro  ;  Sehemboche,  .54  Via  Mercede ;  Alinari,  89  Corso.  For  Views 
and  Architectural  Details  :  Moscioni,  76  Via  Condotti. 

Drawing  Materials.— \)ov\ic\\\,  136  Via  Babuino ;  Corteselli,  150  Via  Sistlna. 
For  commoner  articles  and  stati-mery,  Ricci,  Piazza  S.  Claudio. 

Engravings.— Xi  the  Stamperia  J^azionale  (fixed  prices),  6  Via  dellaStamperia, 
near  the  fountain  of  Trevi. 

Antiquities.— A\esss.\\Ai-o  Castellani,  Via  de'  Poll;  Giacomini,  IC  Via  Sistina ; 
Noci,  29  Via  Fontanella  Borghese  ;  Coivisieri,  86  Via  Due  Macelli ;  Alserigo,  78 
Via  Due  Macelli. 

i?ron2cs.— Rainaldi,  8.3  Via  Babuino ;  Nelli,  111  Via  Babuino ;  Boschetti,  73 
Via  Condotti ;  Kohrich,  62  Via  Due  Macelli. 

Ca7H«os.— Ciapponi  (portraits),  9  Via  S.  Sebastianello  ;  Saulini,  96  Via  Babuino  ; 
Neri,  133  Via  Babuino  ;  Galant,  9  Piazza  di  Spagna. 

Jfosarcs.— Rinaldi,  125  Via  Babuino  ;  Boschetti,  14  Via  Condotti ;  Roccheggiani, 
14  Via  Condotti. 

Jewellers.— C&?,te\\».\\\,  Piazza  Fontana  di  Trevi  (closed  from  12  to  1),  very 
beautiful  and  very  expensive ;  Tombini,  74  Piazza  di  Spagna ;  Negri,  59  Piazza 
di  Spagna  ;  Fasoli,  94  Piazza  di  Spagna ;  Tanfani,  166  Corso. 

Roman  Pearls.— Hey,  122  Via  Babuino ;  Lacchini,  69  Piazza  di  Spagna. 

Engraver  (for  visiting  cards,  &c.). — Ricci,  214  Corso. 

Tailors.— Sef^re,  88 Piazza  di  Trevi ;  Reanda,  61  Piazza  SS.  Apostoli  ;  Carpineto, 
101  Corso.    All  indifferent. 

Shoemakers. — .Tesi,  130  Corso ;  Berardi,  59  Via  della  Fontanella  Borghese ; 
Baldelli,  102  Corso ;  Mazzocchi,  48  Via  Due  Macelli  (none  good). 

Shops  for  Ladies'  Dress. — Bocconi,  Corso  ;  Agostini,  207  Via  Frattina  and  176 
Via  Xazionale ;  Pontecorvo,  170  Corso;  Mezzi,  91  Via  Frattina;  Delfina  Coda, 
155  Corso;  Sebastianini,  61  Via  Condotti  ;  Giovannetti,  50  to  53  Campo-Marzo  ; 
'Old  England,'  entrance  of  Via  Nazionale  from  Piazza  Venezia. 

Hairdressers. — Lancia,  138  Via  Nazionale;  Giardinieri,  234  Corso;  Pasquali, 
11  Via  Condotti. 

Roman  Ribbons  and  Shaivls. — Bianchi,  82  Via  della  Minerva  ;  Fontana,  117 
Via  Babuino  ;  69  Piazza  di  Spagna. 

Gloves. — Ugolini,  56  Piazza  S.  Lorenzo  in  Lucina ;  Nerola,  142  Corso. 

Carpets  and  small  Household  Articles. — Cagiati,  250  Corso. 

German  B«i-er.— Valan,  98  Via  Babuino  ;  Colalucci,  94  Via  Babuino. 

Grocers  (also  for  Oil  and  Wood,  <t-c.).^Luigioni,  70  Piazza  di  Spagna  ;  Casoni,  32 
Piazza  di  Spagna. 

English  Dairy. — Palmegiani,  66  Piazza  di  Spagna. 


Boman  Shops  21 

PastnjcookK—GmUa.ni,  76  Via  Nazionale  ;  Romazzetti,  195  Via  Nazioiiale. 

Beggars.— The  streets  of  Rome,  more  than  those  of  any  other-Italian  city,  now 
swarm  with  beggars  of  every  grade,  who  persecute  foreigners  even  in  the  cliurehes. 
Scarcely  one  in  a  hundred  beggars  deserves  help  ;  but  theirs  is  a  most  flourishing 
trade,  and  if  any  one  watches  a  beggar  on  a  hill  from  a  window,  it  will  be  seen 
tliat  he  earns— during  the  season — an  average  of  two  lire  an  hour.  Maimed 
limbs  and  borrowed  chihh-en  are  everywhere  exhibited  with  imi)unity.  It  is 
better  never  to  give  anything  to  a  professinual  beggar.  '  I  poveri  vergognosi ' 
are  those  in  real  need;  amongst  the  lower-upiier  and  middle  classes,  who  are 
ashamed  to  beg,  there  is  often  very  terrilile  distress. 

Artists'  Studios.— 
Aerni,  Campagna  scenes,  72  Via  S.  Niccolo  da  Tolentino. 
Aureli,  48  Via  Margutta. 
Bompiani,  504  Corso. 
*Carlandi,  Onorato,  landscapes — one  of  the  best  water-colour  artists  in  Europe, — 

2  to  5  on  Thursdays,  33  Via  Margutta.     Gives  lessons. 
Coleman,  Enrico,  landsca])es  and  animals,  33  Via  Margutta. 
Corelli,  Augusto,  figure  subjects  in  water-colours,  44  Via  Flaminia. 
Corrodi,  8  Via  degli  lucuraliile. 

Costa,  Prof.  Nino,  portraits  and  landscapes,  33  Via  Margutta. 
Ferrari,  Giuseppe,  figures  and  portraits  in  water-colours,  55A.  Via  Margutta. 
*  Franz  Roesler,  Ettore— admirable  in  water-colours — 96  S.  Claudio. 
Haseltine,  J.  H.,  Palazzo  Altieri. 

*.Joris,  Pio — admirable  for  figure  subjects — 46  Via  Flaminia. 
Meadows,  Miss,  portraits,  12  Corso. 
*Da  Pozzo,  admirable  for  portraits  in  oil  and  pastel,  13  Vicolo  S.  Nicole  da 

Tolentino.    Ladies'  class  three  times  a  week. 
Raggi,  Giuseppe,  landscapes  and  animals,  110  Via  Palestro. 
Rossi-Sootti,  Lemmo,  landscapes  and  figures,  33  Via  Margutta. 
Serra,  56  Via  Babuino. 
Siemiradtski,  Prof.,  large  oil  compositions,  1  Via  Gaeta. 

Sculptors'  Studios. — 
Dies,  154  Via  Quattro  Fontane. 
Ezechiel,  18  Piazza  del  Termini. 
F'abj  Altini,  51  Corso. 

Ferrari,  Ettore,  monumental  works,  10  Via  Privata,  Porta  Salara. 
*Kopf,  54  Via  Margutta. 
*Monteverde,  8  Piazza  dell'  Indipendenza. 
Rosa,  Prof.  Ercole,  37  Via  Ripetta. 
Russo,  39  Via  Flaminia. 
Simmons,  73  Via  S.  Nicolo  di  Tolentino. 
*Story,  Waldo,  7  Via  S.  Martino. 

It  is  impossible  for  a  traveller  who  spends  only  a  week  or  ten  daj-s 
in  Eome  to  see  a  tenth  part  of  the  sights  which  it  contains.  Per- 
haps the  most  important  objects  are  : — 

Churches. — S.  Peter's,  S.  John  Lateran,  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le 
Mura,  S.  Paolo  fuori  le  Mura,  S.  Aguese  fuori  le  Mura,  Ara  Coeli,  S.  Clemente, 
S.  Pietro  in  Montorio,  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  S.  Sabina,  S.  Prassede  and  S.  Puden- 
tiana,  S.  Gregorio,  S.  Stefano  Rotondo,  S.  Maria  sopra  Minerva,  S.  Maria  del 
Popolo. 

Palaces. — Vatican,  Capitol,  Barberini,  and  if  possible,  Corsini,  Colonna,  Doria, 
Rospigliosi,  and  Spada. 
Villas. — Doria,  Borghese. 

Ruijis. — Palace  of  the  Ca;sars,  Temples  in  Forum,  Coliseum,  and  if  possible, 
the  ruins  in  the  former  Ghetto  and  the  Baths  of  Caracalla. 

It  is  desirable  for  the  traveller  who  is  pressed  for  time  to  apply 
at  once  to  his  banker  for  orders  for  any  sights  for  which  they 


22  Walks  in  Rome 

are  necessary  at  the  time.  The  following  scheme  will  give  a  good 
general  idea  of  Kome  and  its  neighbourhood  in  a  few  days.  The 
sights  printed  in  italics  can  only  be  seen  on  the  days  to  which  they 
are  ascribed : — 

Jf(»/i(/ni/.— (ieneral  view  of  Capitol,  Gallery  of  Sculptures,  Ara  Coeli,  General 
view  i.f  Foruiii,  Coliseuui,  S.  John  Lateran  (with  cloisters),  and  drive  out  to  the 
Wa  Latina  and  tlie  a(iueducts  at  'I'avohito. 

2'r«>*(f<M/.— Morning; :  S.  Peter's  and  the  Vatican  Stanze  and  Pinacoteca.  After- 
noon :  villa  Albani  (if  open),  S.  Agnese,  and  drive  to  the  Ponte  Nonientano. 

Wednenday.—Uonung  :  S.  Prassede,  S.  Pudentiana,  S.  Maria  Maggiore.  After- 
noon :  S.  Sabina,  Priorato  Garden,  English  Cemetery,  S.  Paolo,  and  the  Tre 
Fontane. 

Thursdai/.—'Movnwf^ :  Palace  of  the  Cajsars.  Afternoon  :  drive  on  the  Via 
Appia  as  far  as  Torre  Mezza  Strada;  in  returning,  see  the  Baths  of  Caracalla. 

F>-i(/ff?/.— Morning :  Palazzo  Spada,  the  Temple  of  Vesta,  cross  the  Tiber  to  S. 
Cecilia  -."and  end  in  the  afternoon  at  S.  Pietio  in  Montorio  and  the  Villa  Dorm 
(or  on  Monday). 

Saturday.— Vi-a.sca.ti  and  Albano.  Drive  to  Frascati  early,  take  donkeys,  by 
Rocca  di  Papa,  to  Monte  Cavo  ;  take  luncheon  at  the  Temple,  and  return  by 
Palazzuolo  and  the  upper  and  lower  Galleries  to  Albano,  whither  the  carriage 
should  be  sent  on  to  wait  at  the  Hotel  de  la  Poste.  Drive  back  to  Rome  in  the 
evening. 

Si(ndai/.— Morning:  S.  Maria  del  Popolo  after  English  Church.  Afternoon  : 
S.  Peter's  again  ;  drive  to  Monte  Mario  (Villa  Madama),  or  in  the  Villa  Borghese, 
and  end  with  the  Pincio  and  Trinitu  de'  Monti. 

2»id  Monday.— Go  to  Tivoli  (the  Cascades,  Cascatelle,  and  Villa  d'Este). 

2nd  Tuesday.— },lommg  :  \'atican  Sculptures.  Afternoon  :  S.  Gregorio,  S. 
Stefano  Rotondo,  S.  Clemente,  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  S.  Maria  degli  Angeli,  S. 
Lorenzo  fuori  le  Mura,  and  drive  out  to  the  Torre  del  Schiavi,  returning  by  the 
Porta  Maggiore. 

2nd  Tre(/;iCJ*f7(i»/.— Morning :  Palazzo  Barberini,  Palazzo  Rogpigliod,  and  Colonna 
Gardens.  Afternoon  :  Forum  in  detail,  SS.  Cosmo  e  Damiano,  and  ascend  the 
Coliseum. 

2?irf  Thursday. — Morning  :  The  .Sistine  Chapel,  S.  Onofrio,  and  the  Passeggiata 
Margherita.    Afternoon  :  i'he  Pictures  at  the  Villa  Borghese. 


The  following  list  may  be  useful  as  a  guide  to  some  of  the  best 
subjects  for  artists  who  wish  to  draw  at  Rome,  and  have  not  much 
time  to  search  for  themselves.  Many  of  these  spr)ts,  however,  have 
lost  the  great  beauty  which  distinguished  them  before  the  Sardinian 
occupation.  Many,  mentioned  in  earlier  editions  of  these  volumes, 
are  utterly  destroyed. 

Morning  Light: 

Arch  of  Constantine  from  the  Coliseum  (early). 

Coliseum  from  behiiul  S.  Francesca  Romana  (early). 

Views  from  the  Palace  of  .Severus. 

Arch  of  Septimius  Severus,  Foro  Romano. 

In  the  Garden  of  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo. 

In  the  Garden  of  S.  Buonaventura. 

In  the  Colonna  Gardens. 

i>om  the  door  of  the  Villa  Medici. 

Courtyard  behind  the  Tor  di  Nona. 

At  S.  Cosimato  (much  spoilt). 


Sight-Seeing  23 

The  back  entrance  of  Ara  Coeli  (early). 

From  the  back  entrance  of  Ara  Coeli. 

Fountain,  Piazza  S.  Pietro. 

Courtyaril  near  the  Fontana  Tartarushe. 

Looking  to  the  Arch  of  Titus  up  the  Via  Sacra. 

In  the  Cloister  of  the  Lateran. 

At  S.  Cesareo. 

Porta  S.  Sebastiano  (inner  view). 

Porta  Latin  a. 

Near  the  Temple  of  Bacchus. 

On  the  Via  .\ppia,  beyond  Cecilia  Metella. 

Torre  Jlezza  Stiaila,  on  the  Via  Appia. 

Ponte  Nonuntaiio,  looking  to  the  !^Ion.s  Sacer  (injured). 

Torre  dei  Schiavi,  looking  towards  Tivoli. 

Aqueducts  at  Tavolato. 

Evening  Light : 

From  the  Terrace  of  the  Villa  Doria  (S.  Peter's). 

On  the  Palace  of  Domitian— looking  to  S.  Balbina  (injured). 

On  the  Palace  of  Caligula— looking  to  the  Coliseum  (injured). 

Apse  of  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo. 

Garden  of  the  Villa  Mattel. 

Garden  of  the  Priorato. 

In  the  Villa  Borghese — several  subjects. 

Cloister,  S.  Cosimato. 

Torre  dei  Schiavi,  looking  towards  Rome. 

Via  Latina,  looking  towards  the  Aqueducts. 

Via  Latina,  looking  towards  Rome. 

Towers  of  Cerbara  and  Cervaletto. 

On  Via  Appia,  beyond  Cecilia  Metella. 

The  months  of  November  and  December  are  the  best  for  drawing. 
The  colouring  is  then  magnificent  ;  it  is  enhanced  by  the  tints  of  the 
decaying  vegetation,  and  the  shadows  are  strong  and  clear.  January 
is  generally  cold  for  sitting  out,  and  February  wet  :  and  before  the 
end  of  March  the  vegetation  is  often  so  far  advanced  that  the  Alban 
Hills,  which  have  retained  glorious  sapphire  and  amethyst  tints  all 
winter,  change  into  commonplace  green  English  downs  ;  while  the 
Campatina,  from  the  crimson  and  gold  of  its  dying  thistles  and 
finochii,  becomes  a  lovely  green  plain  waving  with  flowers. 

Foreigners  are  much  too  apt  to  follow  the  native  custom  of 
driving  constantly  in  the  Villa  Borghese,  the  Villa  Doria,  and  on 
the  Pincio,  and  getting  out  to  walk  there  during  their  drives.  For 
those  who  do  not  care  always  to  see  the  human  world,  a  delightful 
variety  of  drives  can  be  found  ;  and  it  is  a  most  agreeable  plan  for 
invalids,  without  carriages  of  their  own,  to  take  a  'course'  to  the 
Parco  di  San  Gregorio,  or  the  Passeggiata  Margherita,  and  walk  there 
instead  of  on  the  Pincio.  A  carriage  for  the  return  may  always  be 
found  at  the  Coliseum  or  in  the  Trastevere. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  CORSO  AND  ITS  NEIGHBOURHOOD 

The  Pia/za  del  Popolo— Obelisk— S.  Maria  del  Popolo— (The  Piiicio— Villa  Medici 
— Triuitii  de'  Monti)— (Via  Babuino— Via  Margutta— Piazza  di  Spagna— 
Propafjanda)- (Via  Kipetta— SS.  Roeco  e  Maitino— S.  Girolanio  degli  Schia- 
voni)— S.  Giacomo  degli  Incurabili— Via  Vittoria-Mausoleum  of  Augustus 
— S.  Carlo  in  Corso— Via  Con  iotti— Palazzo  Borgliese— Palazzo  Ptuspoli— S. 
Lorenzo  in  Lucina— S.  Silvestro  in  Capite— S.  Andrea  delle  Fratte— Palazzo 
Chigi— Piazza  Colonna— Palace  and  Obelisk  of  Monte  Citorio— Temple  of 
Neptune— Fountain  of  Trevi— Palazzo  Poli— Palazzo  Sciarra— The  Caravita 
— S.  Ignazio— S.  Marcello— S.  Maria  in  Via  Lata— Palazzo  Doria  Pamflli— 
Palazzo  Salviati— Palazzo  Odescalchi- Palazzo  Colonna— Church  of  SS.  Apos- 
toli— Palazzo  Savorelli— Palazzo  Bonaparte— Palazzo  di  Venezia— Palazzo 
Torlonia— Ripresa  de  Barberl— S.  Marco— Church  of  II  Gesii— Palazzo 
Altleri. 

THE  first  object  of  every  traveller  will  naturally  be  to  reach  the 
Capitol,  and  look  down  thence  upon  ancient  Rome  ;  but  as  he 
will  go  down  the  Corso  to  do  this,  and  must  daily  pass  most  of  its 
surrounding  buildings,  we  will  first  speak  of  those  objects  which 
will,  ere  long,  become  the  most  familiar. 

A  stranger's  first  lesson  in  Roman  topography  should  be  learnt 
standing  in  the  Piazza  del  Popolo,  whence  three  streets  branch  off — 
the  Corso,  in  the  centre,  leading  towards  the  Capitol,  beyond  which 
lies  ancient  Rome  ;  the  Babuino,  on  the  left,  leading  to  the  Piazza 
di  Spagna  and  the  English  quarter  ;  the  Ripetta,  on  the  right, 
leading  to  the  Castle  of  >S.  Angelo  and  S.  Peter's.  The  scene  is  one 
well  known  from  pictures  and  engravings.  The  space  between  the 
streets  is  occupied  by  twin  churches,  erected  by  Cardinal  Gastaldi. 

'  Les  deux  eglises  elevees  h  la  Place  du  Peuple  par  le  Cardinal  Gastaldi  k 
I'entree  du'Corso,  sont  d'un  effet  mediocre.  Comment  mi  cardinal  n'a-t-il  pas 
senti  (|u'il  ne  faut  pas  elever  une  cglise  poure  /aire  pendant  ^  quelque  chose? 
Cost  ravaler  la  niajeste  (\i\ine.'—Ste7uihal,  i.  172. 

The.se  churches  are  believed  to  occupy  the  site  of  the  magnificent 
tomb  of  Sulla,  who  died  at  Puteoli  B.C.  82,  but  was  honoured  at 
R(jme  with  a  public  funeral,  at  which  the  patrician  ladies  burnt 
masses  of  incense  and  perfumes  on  his  funeral  pyre. 

The  Obelisk  of  the  Piazza  del  Popolo  was  placed  on  this  site  by 
Sixtus  V.  in  1589,  but  was  originally  brought  to  Rome  and  erected 
in  honour  of  Apollo  by  the  Emperor  Augustus. 

'Apollo  was  the  patron  of  the  spot  which  had  given  a  name  to  the  great 
victory  of  Actiuni ;  Apollo  himself,  it  was  proclaimed,  had  fought  for  Rome  and 
for  Octavius  on  that  auspicious  day ;  the  same  Apollo,  the  Sun-god,  had  shud- 

24 


S.  Maria  del  Popolo  25 

dered  in  his  bright  career  at  the  murder  of  the  Dictator,  and  terrified  the  nations 
by  the  eclipse  of  his  divine  countenance.'  .  .  .  Therefore,  'besides  Imildinn  a 
temple  to  Apollo  on  the  Palatine  hill,  the  Emperor  Augustus  soujiht  to  honour 
him  by  transplanting  to  tlie  Circus  Maximus,  the  sports  of  which  wi're  under 
liis  special  protection,  an  obelisk  from  Ilcliopolis,  in  Egypt.  This  flame-shaped 
column  was  a  symbol  of  the  sun,  and  (iriniiially  bore  a  blazing  or!)  upon  its 
summit.  It  is  interesting  to  trace  an  iiitellinil)k'  motive  for  the  first  introduction 
into  Europe  of  these  grotesque  and  unsigiitly  monuments  of  Eastern  supersti- 
tion.'— Merivale,  'Hist,  of  the  Romans.' 

'  This  red  granite  obelisk,  oldest  of  things,  even  in  Kome,  rises  in  the  centre  of 
the  piazza,  with  a  fourfold  fountain  at  its  base.  All  Roman  works  and  ruins 
(whether  of  the  empire,  the  far-off  republic,  or  the  still  more  distant  kings) 
assume  a  transient,  a  visionary  and  impalpable  character  when  we  think  that 
this  indestructible  monument  supplied  one  of  the  recollections  which  Moses  and 
the  Israelites  bore  from  Egypt  into  the  desert.  Perchance,  on  beholding  the 
cloudy  pillar  and  fiery  column,  they  whispered  awe-stricken  to  one  another,  "  In 
its  shape  it  is  like  that  old  obelisk  which  we  and  our  fathers  have  so  often  seen 
on  the  borders  of  the  Nile."  And  now  that  very  obelisk,  with  liardly  a  trace  of 
decay  upon  it,  is  the  first  thing  that  the  modern  traveller  sees  after  entering  the 
Flaminian  Gate.' — Hawthorne's  ' Transformation.' 

It  was  on  the  left  of  the  piazza,  at  the  foot  of  what  was  even  then 
called  'the  Hill  of  Gardens,'  that  Nero  was  buried  (a.d.  68). 

'  When  Nero  was  dead,  his  nurse  Ecloge,  with  Alexandra  and  Acte,  the  famous 
concubine,  having  wrapped  his  remains  in  rich  white  stuff,  eniliroidered  with 
gold,  deposited  them  in  the  Domitian  monument,  which  is  seen  in  the  Campus 
Martins,  under  the  Hill  of  Gardens.  The  tomlj  was  of  porpliyry,  having  an  altar 
of  Luna  marble,  surrounded  by  a  balustrade  of  Thasos  maxhle.'— Suetonius. 

Church  tradition  tells  that  from  the  tomb  of  Nero  afterwards  grew 
a  gigantic  walnut-tree,  which  became  the  resort  of  innumerable 
crows — so  numerous  as  to  become  quite  a  pest  to  the  neighbourhood. 
In  the  eleventh  century,  Pope  Paschal  II.  dreamt  that  these  crows 
were  demons,  and  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  commanded  him  to  cut 
down  and  burn  the  tree  ('albero  malnato'),  and  build  a  sanctuary 
to  her  honour  in  its  place.  A  church  was  then  built  by  means  of 
a  collection  amongst  the  common  people;  hence  the  name  which  it 
still  retains  of  '  S.  Mary  of  the  People.' 

S.  Maria  del  Popolo  was  rebuilt  by  Baccio  Pintelli  for  Sixtus  IV. 
in  1480.  As  the  favourite  buriabplace  of  the  Rovere  family,  it  be- 
came a  museum  of  renaissance  art.  It  was  modernised  by  Bernini 
for  Alexander  VII.  (Fabio  Chigi,  1655-B7),  of  whom  it  was  the 
family  burial-place,  but  it  still  retains  many  fragments  of  beautiful 
fifteenth-century  work  (the  principal  door  of  the  nave  is  a  fine 
example  of  this) ;  and  its  interior  is  a  perfect  museum  of  sculpture 
and  painting.  Here  Lucrezia  Borgia,  daughter  of  Pope  Alexander  VI., 
returned  public  thanks,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  for  her  betrothal 
to  her  third  husband,  Alfonso  d'Este. 

Entering  the  church  by  the  west  door,  and  following  the  right 
aisle,  the  first  chapel  (Venuti,  formerly  della  Rovere^)  is  adorned 
with  exquisite  paintings  by  Pinturicchio.  Over  the  altar  is  the 
Nativity  (one  of  the  most  beautiful  frescoes  in  the  city) ;  in  the 

1  Observe  here  and  elsewhere  the  arms  of  the  Della  Rovere— an  oak  tree. 
Robur,  an  oak, — hence  Rovere. 


26  Walks  in  Rome 

lunettes  are  scenes  from  the  life  of  S.  Jerome.  Cardinal  Cristoforo 
(Iflla  Rdvere,  who  built  this  chajiel  and  dedicated  it  to  'the  Virgin 
:ind  8.  Jerome,' is  buried  on  the  left,  in  a  grand  fifteenth-century 
tomb  ;  on  the  right  is  the  monument  of  Cardinal  di  Castro.  Both 
of  those  tombs  and  nianv  others  in  this  church  have  interesting  and 
greatly  varied  lunettes  of  the  Virgin  and  Child. 

The  second  chapel,  of  the  Cibo  family,  rich  in  pillars  of  nero- 
antico  and  jasper,  has  an  altar-piece  representing  the  Assumption 
of  the  Virgin,  by  Carlo  M/iratta.  In  the  cupola  is  the  Almighty, 
surrounded  by  the  heavenly  host.' 

The  third  chapel  is  the  oratory  erected  by  Giovanni  della  Rovcre, 
Duke  of  Sora  and  Siniuaglia,  for  his  burial-place,  and  decorated 
after  his  death  by  Pinturicchio,  for  his  brother  Domenico.  Over 
the  altar  are  the  Madoima  and  four  saints  ;  above,  God  the  Father, 
surrounded  by  angels.  In  the  other  lunettes,  scenes  in  the  life  of 
the  Virgin  :  that  of  the  Virgin  studying  in  the  Temple,  a  very  rare 
subject,  is  especially  beautiful.  In  a  frieze  round  the  lower  part  of 
the  wall  is  a  series  of  martyrdoms  in  grisaille.  On  the  right  is  the 
tomb  of  Giovanni  della  Rovere,  ob.  1485.  On  the  left  is  a  fine 
sleeping  bronze  figure  of  a  bishop,  unknown. 

The  fourth  chapel  has  a  fine  fifteenth-century  altar-relief  of  S. 
Catherine  between  S.  Anthony  of  Padua  and  S.  Vincent.  On  the 
right  is  the  tomb  of  Marc-Antonio  Albertoni,  ob.  1485  ;  on  the  left, 
that  of  Cardinal  Costa,  of  Lisbon,  ob.  1508,  erected  in  his  lifetime. 
In  this  tomb  is  an  especially  beautiful  lunette  of  the  Virgin  adored 
by  angels. 

Entering  the  right  transept,  on  the  right  is  the  tomb  of  Cardinal 
Podocantharus  of  Cyprus,  a  very  fine  specimen  of  fifteenth-century 
work.  A  door  near  this  leads  into  a  cloister,  where  is  preserved, 
over  a  door,  the  gothic  altar-piece  of  the  church  of  Sixtus  IV., 
representing  the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  and  two  fine  tombs — 
Archbishop  Rocca,  ob.  1482,  and  Bishop  Gomiel. 

The  choir  (shown  when  there  is  no  service)  has  a  ceiling  by 
Phitnricchio,  painted  for  Giuliano  della  Rovere.  In  the  centre  are 
the  Virgin  and  Saviour,  surrounded  by  the  Evangelists  and  Sibyls ;  in 
the  corners,  the  Fathers  of  the  Church — Gregory,  Ambrose,  Jerome, 
and  Augustine.  Beneath  are  the  tombs  of  Cardinal  Ascanio  Sforza 
and  Cardinal  Girolamo  Basso,  nephews  of  Sixtus  IV.  (Francesco 
della  Rovere),  beautiful  works  of  Andrea  di  Sansovino.  These  tombs 
were  erected  at  the  expense  of  Julius  II.,  himself  a  Della  Rovere, 
who  also  gave  the  windows,  painted  by  Claude  and  Guillaume  de 
Marseilles,  the  only  good  specimens  of  stained  glass  in  Rome. 
Vasari  regards  the  figure  of  Temperance,  over  one  of  the  tombs, 
as  '  something  quite  divine,  and  possessing  to  perfection  the  spirit 
of  the  antique.' 

The  high-altar  is  surmounted  by  a  miraculous  image  of  the  Virgin, 

J  The  beautiful  fifteenth-century  tomb  of  Cardinal  Cibo,  adorned  with  statuettes 
of  four  virgin  saints,  and  used  as  the  reredos  of  an  altar  at  S.  Cosimato  in 
Trastevere,  was  brought  from  this  chapel. 


S.  Maria  del  Popolo  27 

inscribed,  '  Tu  lionorificentia  popnli  nostri,'  which  was  placed  in 
this  church  by  Gregory  IX.,  and  wliich,  having  been  'successfully 
invoked'  by  Gregory  XIII.,  in  the  great  plague  of  1.578,  was,  till 
1870,  annually  adored  by  the  Pope  of  the  period,  who  prostrated 
himself  before  it  upon  the  8th  of  September.  The  chapel  on  the 
left  of  this  has  an  Assumption,  by  Annihulc  Caracci. 

In  the  left  transept  is  the  tomb  of  Cardinal  Bernardino  Lonati, 
with  a  fine  fifteenth-century  relief  of  the  Resurrection. 

Returning  by  the  left  aisle,  the  last  chapel  but  one  is  that  of 
the  Chigi  famil}^  in  which  the  famous  banker,  Agostino  Chigi  (who 
built  the  Farnesina),  is  buried,  and  in  which  RiiffaeVe  is  represented 
at  once  as  an  architect,  a  painter,  and  a  sculptor.  He  planned  the 
chapel  itself ;  he  drew  the  strange  design  of  the  mosaic  on  the 
ceiling  (carried  out  by  Aloisio  dclla  Pace),  which  lepresentsan  extra- 
ordinary mixture  of  Paganism  and  Christianity — Mercury,  Venus, 
Mars,  Jupiter,  and  Saturn  (as  the  planets),  conducted  by  angels, 
being  represented  with  and  surrounding  Jehovah  ;  and  he  modelled 
the  beautiful  statue  of  Jonah  seated  on  the  whale,  which  was  sculp- 
tured in  the  marble  by  Lorcnzctto.  The  same  artist  sculptured  the 
figure  of  Elijah — those  of  Daniel  and  Habbakuk  being  by  Bernini. 
It  is  interesting  to  mark  that,  in  the  figure  of  Jonah,  Raffaelle 
departed  from  the  prophetic  ideal  of  a  be?irded  figure  in  a  mantle, 
and  took  as  his  model  the  beautiful  nude  figure  of  the  youthful 
Antinous,  who  gave  himself  up  to  a  voluntary  death  by  water  for 
his  master  and  the  State,  as  Jonah  for  the  ves.sel  and  its  crew.  ^ 
The  figure  was  sculptured  from  marble  plundered  from  the  temple 
of  Castor  and  Pollux.  The  altar-piece  of  the  chapel,  representing 
the  Nativity  of  the  Virgin,  is  a  fine  work  of  Scbastiano  del  Piomho, 
who  is  buried  in  this  church,  near  which  he  lived,  and  died  of  a 
fever,  June  1,547.  He  (Sebastiano  Luciani)  had  received  the  sinecure 
office  of  the  Piombi  from  Clement  VII.  in  1531.  On  the  pier  ad- 
joining this  chapel  is  the  strange  monument  by  Posi  (1771)  of  a 
Princess  Odescalchi  Chigi,  who  died  in  childbirth,  at  the  age  of 
twenty,  erected  by  her  husband,  who  describes  himself  'in  solitu- 
dine  et  luctu  superstes.' 

The  last  chapel  contains  two  fine  fifteenth-century  ciboria,  and 
the  tomb  of  Cardinal  Antonio  Pallavicini,  1507. 

On  the  left  of  the  principal  entrance  is  the  remarkable  monu- 
ment of  Gio.  Batt.  Gislenus,  the  companion  and  friend  of  Casimir  I. 
of  Poland  (ob.  1670).  At  the  top  is  his  portrait  while  living,  in- 
scribed '  Neque  hie  vivus  ; '  then  a  medallion  of  a  chrysalis,  '  In 
nidulo  meo  moriar  ; '  opposite  to  which  is  a  medallion  of  a  butterfly 
emerging,  '  Ut  Phoenix  multiplicabo  dies  ; '  below  is  a  hideous 
skeleton  of  giallo  antico  in  a  white  marble  winding-sheet,  '  Neque 
hie  mortuus. ' 

'  Non  v'  accorgete  voi  che  noi  siam  vernii 
Natl  a  forniar  1'  angelica  farfalla 
Che  vola  alia  giustizia  senza  schermi  ? ' 

— Dante,  Purg.  x.  124. 

1  See  Viktor  Rydberg's  Roman  Days. 


28  Walks  in  Rome 

Mnrtiii  Luther  '  often  spoke  of  death  as  the  Christian's  true  birtli,  :ukI  tliis 
life  as  but  a  prowiiiR  into  the  chrysalis-shell,  in  which  the  spirit  lives  till  its 
beinj;  is  developeil,  ami  it  Imrsts  the  shell,  casts  off  the  web,  struggles  into  life, 
spreads  its  wind's,  and  soars  uj)  to  God.' 

The  Augustine  Convent  adjoinino;  this  church  was  the  residence 
of  Luther  while  he  was  in  Rome.  Here  he  celebrated  mass  imme- 
diately on  his  arrival,  after  he  had  prostrated  himself  upon  the 
earth,  sayincr,  'Hail,  sacred  Rome  I  thrice  sacred  for  the  blood  of 
the  martyrs  shed  here!'  Here,  also,  he  celebrated  mass  for  the 
last  time  before  he  departed  from  Rome,  to  become  the  most  terrible 
of  her  enemies. 

'  Lni,  pauvre  6colier,  i\ev6  si  durenient,  qui  souvent,  pendant  son  enfance, 
n'avait  pour  oreiller  qu'une  dalle  froide,  il  passe  devant  des  temples  tout  de 
niarbre,  ilevant  des  colonnes  d'albatre,  de  giKaiitcsfpies  ob61isques  de  granite,  des 
fontainus  jaillissantes,  des  villas  fraiches  el  embellies  de  jardins,  de  fleurs,  de 
cascades  et  de  grottes.  Veut-il  prier'  il  entru  dans  une  eglise  qui  lui  semble  un 
monde  vc-ritable,  oil  les  diamants  sciiitillent  sur  lautcl,  For  aux  sotlites,  le  marbre 
aux  colonnes,  la  niosaique  aux  cliapelles,  an  lieu  d'un  de  ces  temples  rustiqiies 
qui  n'ont  dans  sa  patrie  pour  tout  ornement  (jue  quelques  roses  qu'une  main 
]iieuse  va  dLi)oser  sur  I'autel  le  jour  du  dinianche.  Est-il  fatigu6  de  la  route  ?  il 
trouve  sur  son  chemin,  non  plus  ini  modeste  l)anc  de  bois,  mais  un  si6ge  d'albatre 
antiqui"  riJcemment  deterre.  Cherchc-t-il  inie  sainte  image?  il  napergoit  que 
clis  faiitaisits  iiaiennes,  des  divinites  olynipiques,  Apollon,  Venus,  Mais,  Jupiter, 
.lUMimlks  Iravaillent  inille  mains  de  sculi)teurs.  i)e  toutes  ces  merveilles,  il 
lie  coniprit  rieii,  il  ne  vit  rien.  Aucun  rayon  de  la  couronne  de  Raphael,  de 
Michel  Ange,  n'eblouit  ses  regards;  il  resta  froid  et  must  devant  tons  les  tr^sors 
de  peinture  et  de  sculpture  rassembl6s  dans  les  6glises  ;  son  oreille  fut  fermee 
aux  chants  du  Dante,  que  le  peuple  r^p6tait  autour  de  lui.  II  etait  entr6  a  Kome 
111  pcJlerin,  il  en  sort  comme  Coriolan,  et  s'ecrie  avec  Bembo  :  "Adieu,  Kome, 
line  doit  fuir  quiconque  veut  vivre  saintenient !  Adieu,  ville  oil  tout  est  permis, 
excepte  d'etre  homme  de  bien."  ' — Audin,  '  Histoire  de  Luther,'  c.  ii. 

It  was  in  front  of  this  church  that  the  cardinals  and  magnates  of 
Rome  met  to  receive  the  apostate  Christina  of  Sweden  upon  her 
entrance  into  the  city. 


On  the  left  side  of  the  piazza  rises  the  Pincio,  which  derives  its 
name  from  the  Pinci  family,  who  had  a  magnificent  palace  there. 
The  terraces  are  adorned  with  rostral-columns,  statues,  and  marble 
bas-reliefs,  interspersed  with  cypresses  and  pines.  A  winding  road, 
lined  with  mimosas  and  other  flowering  shrubs,  leads  to  the  upper 
platform,  now  laid  out  in  public  drives  and  gardens,  but,  till  c.  1840, 
a  deserted  waste,  where  the  ghost  of  Nero  was  believed  to  wander 
in  the  Middle  Ages. 

From  the  platform  of  the  Pincio  terrace  the  Eternal  City  is  seen 
spread  at  our  feet,  and  beyond  it  the  wide- spreading  Campagna,  till 
a  silver  line  marks  the  sea  melting  into  the  horizon  beyond  Ostia. 
All  these  churches  and  tall  palace  roofs  become  more"  than  mere 
names  in  the  course  of  the  winter,  but  at  first  all  is  bewilderment. 
Two  great  buildings  alone  arrest  the  attention. 

'  Westward  beyond  the  Tiber  is  the  Castle  of  S.  Aiigelo,  the  immense  tomb  of 
I  pagan  emperor,  with  the  archansjtel  on  its  summit.  .  .  .  Still  farther  off,  a 
mighty  pile  of  buildings,  surrounded  by  a  vast  dome,  which  all  of  us  have  shaped 


S.  Maria  del  Popolo  29 

and  swelled  outward,  like  a  huge  bubble,  to  the  utmost  scope  of  our  imaginations 
long  before  we  see  it  floating:  over  the  worship  of  the  city.  At  any  nearer  view 
the  grandeur  of  S.  Peter's  hides  itself  liehind  the  immensity  of  its  separate  parts, 
so  that  we  only  see  the  front,  only  the  sides,  only  the  pillared  length  and  lofti- 
ness of  the  portico,  and  not  the  mighty  whole.  But  at  this  distance  the  entire 
outline  of  the  world's  cathedral,  as  well  as  that  of  the  palace  of  the  world's 
chief  priest,  is  taken  in  at  once.  In  such  remoteness,  moreover,  the  imagina- 
tion is  not  del)arred  from  rendering  its  assistance,  even  while  we  have  the  reality 
before  our  eyes,  and  helping  the  weakness  of  human  sense  to  do  justice  to  so 
grand  an  object.  It  requires  liotli  faith  and  fancy  to  enable  us  to  feel,  what  is 
nevertheless  so  true,  that  yonder,  in  front  of  the  purple  outline  of  the  hills,  is 
the  grandest  edifice  ever  built  by  man,  painted  against  God's  loveliest  sky.'— 
Hawthorne. 

Since  1880  the  long  lines  and  tender  green  of  the  Prati  Cincin- 
nati, which  up  to  that  time  extended  from  S.  Peter's  to  the  then 
noble  cypresses  of  the  Porta  del  Popolo,  have  been  effaced,  and 
the  most  interesting  view  in  the  world  has  been  spoilt  by  the 
erection  of  a  succession  of  hideous  stuccoed  buildings  in  the  worst 
style  of  Chicago,  and  a  straight  road  of  unparalleled  ugliness.  Every 
afternoon,  except  Friday,  the  band  plays  on  the  Pincio,  when 
immense  crowds  often  collect,  showing  every  phase  of  Roman  life. 
It  is  on  Sunday  especially  that  the  terrace  may  be  seen  in  what 
Miss  Thackeray  calls  '  a  fashionable  halo  of  sunset  and  pink  para- 
sols;' but  all  begin  to  disperse  as  the  Ave-Maria  bell  rings  from  the 
churches,  either  to  descend  into  the  city,  or  to  hear  Benediction 
sung  by  the  nuns  in  the  Trinita  de'  Monti. 

'  When  the  fashionable  hour  of  rendezvous  arrives,  the  same  spot,  which  a  few 
minutes  before  was  immersed  in  silence  and  solitude,  changes  as  it  were  with 
the  rapidity  of  a  scene  in  a  pantomime  to  an  animated  panorama.  The  scene  is 
rendered  not  a  little  ludicrous  by  the  miniature  repie^ientation  of  the  Ring  in 
Hyde  Park  in  a  small  compass.  An  entire  revolution  nf  tlie  carriage-drive  is 
performed  in  the  short  period  of  three  minutes  as  near  as  may  be,  and  the  per- 
petual occurrence  of  the  same  physiognomies  and  the  same  carriages  trotting 
round  and  round  for  two  successive  hours,  necessarily  reminds  one  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  a  country  fair,  and  children  whirling  in  a  roundabout.' — Sir  G.  Ueail's 
Tom?'  in  Rome.' 

'  "The  Pincian  Hill"  is  the  favourite  promenade  of  the  Roman  aristocracy. 
At  the  present  day,  however,  like  most  other  Roman  possessions,  it  belongs  less 
to  the  native  inhabitants  than  to  the  barbarians  from  Gaul,  Great  Britain,  and 
beyond  the  sea,  who  have  established  a  peaceful  usurpation  over  all  that  is 
enjoyable  or  memorable  in  the  Eternal  City.  These  foreign  guests  are  indeed 
ungrateful  if  they  do  not  breathe  a  prayer  for  Pope  Clement,  or  whatever  Holy 
Father  it  may  have  been,  who  levelled  the  summit  of  the  mount  so  skilfully,  and 
bounded  it  with  the  parapet  of  the  city  wall ;  who  laid  out  those  broad  walks 
and  drives,  and  overhung  them  with  the  shade  of  many  kinds  of  trees ;  who 
scattered  the  flowers  of  all  seasons,  and  of  every  clime,  abundantly  over  those 
smooth  central  lawns  ;  who  scooped  out  hollows  in  fit  places,  and,  setting  great 
basons  of  marble  in  them,  caused  ever-gushing  fountains  to  fill  them  to  the 
brim  ;  who  reared  up  the  imnieumrial  obelisk  out  of  the  soil  that  had  long 
hidden  it ;  who  placed  pedestals  along  the  borders  of  the  avenues,  and  covered 
them  with  busts  of  that  multitude  of  worthies— statesmen,  heroes,  artists,  men 
of  letters  and  of  song— whom  the  whole  world  claims  as  its  chief  ornaments 
though  Italy  has  pi'oduced  them  all.  In  a  word,  the  Pincian  garden  is  one  of 
the  things  that  reconcile  the  stranger  (since  he  fully  appreciates  the  enjoyment, 
and  feels  nothing  of  the  cost)  to  the  rule  of  an  irresponsible  dynasty  of  Holy 
Fathers,  who  seem  to  have  arrived  at  making  life  as  agreeable  an  aft'air  as  it 
could  well  be. 


30  Walks  in  Rome 

'  Ill-re  sits  (tlroiiiiiiijj  ii])<iii  some  niailiU'  ln-iiili  in  tlu'  treaclierous  sunshine)  the 
consinnptive  girl,  whose  frieiiils  have  hroujiht  her,  for  a  cure,  into  a  climate  that 
instils  jioisoii  into  its  very  purest  hreath.  Here,  all  day,  come  nurserymaids, 
hurdeneil  with  rosy  KuRlish  hahies.  or  guiding:  the  footsteps  of  little  travellers 
from  the  far  wistern  world.  Here,  in  the  sunny  afteinoon,  roll  and  rumlile  all 
kin<ls  of  carriaKes,  from  the  cardinal's  oldlMsliiomd  an<l  gorgeous  purjde  car- 
riage to  the  gay  liarouche  of  modern  date.  Hire  horsemen  gallop  on  thorough- 
bred steeils.  ilere,  in  short,  all  the  transitory  population  of  Rome,  the  world's 
preat  watering-place,  rides,  drives,  or  promenades  ;  here  are  heautiful  sunsets  ; 
and  here,  wliichever  way  you  turn  your  eyes,  are  scenes  as'well  worth  gazing  at, 
both  in  themselves  and  for  their  historical  interest,  as  any  that  the  sun  ever  rose 
and  set  upon.  Here,  too,  on  certain  afternoons  in  the  week,  a  military  hand 
flings  out  rich  music  over  the  poor  oM  city,  Hooding  her  with  strains  as  loud  as 
those  of  her  own  echoless  triumi)hs.'— //f»c</iorne. 

'  I)e  cette  terrasse  admirable,  tres  haute,  trts  large,  se  deroulait  une  des  vues 
les  pins  mcrveilleuses  de  Rome.  Au  dela  du  Tihre,  par-dessus  le  chaos  batard 
du  nouveau  tpiartier  des  I'res  du  Chateau,  se  dressait  Saint-Pierre,  entre  les  ver- 
dures ilu  inont  .Mario  et  du  .Tanicule.  Puis,  c'etait  i\  gauche  toute  la  vieille  ville, 
une  etendue  de  toits  sans  bornes,  une  mer  roulante  d'edifices,  i  perte  de  vue. 
Mais  les  i-eganls,  toujoiu's,  revenajent  a  Saint-Pierre,  tronant  dans  I'azur,  d'une 
grandeur  pure  et  souveraine,  et  de  la  terrasse,  au  fond  du  ciel  immense,  leslents 
couchers  du  soleil,  dcrriere  le  colosse,  etaient  sublimes.' — Zola. 

The  garden  of  the  Pincio  is  very  small.  It  was  laid  out  early  in 
the  nineteenth  century  by  Valadier,  the  hill,  till  1812,  having  been 
occupied  by  the  Vigna  dei  Frati  del  Popolo  (Augustinian  monks), 
from  which  two  old  umbrella  pines  remain  near  the  central  fountain 
of  Moses.  At  a  crossways  is  placed  an  Obelisk,  brought  from  Egypt, 
and  which  the  late  discoveries  in  hieroglyphics  show  to  have  been 
erected  there,  in  the  joint  names  of  Hadrian  and  his  empress 
Sabina,  to  their  beloved  Antinous,  who  was  drowned  in  the  Nile 
A.D.  131.  The  casino  occupies  part  of  the  site  of  the  palace  of  the 
Anicii,  and  beneath  it  is  a  vast  ancient  piscina. 

From  the  farthest  angle  of  the  garden  we  look  down  upon  the 
strange  fragment  of  wall  known  as  the  Muro-Torto,  which,  in  all 
the  different  restorations  of  the  walls,  even  in  that  under  Pius  IX., 
has  never  been  restored,  because  it  is  believed  that  this  corner  is 
under  the  especial  protection  of  the  Apostle  Peter,  and  that  he 
defended  it  in  person  during  the  .siege  by  Vitiges. ' 

'  Le  Muro-Torto  ofTre  \m  souvenir  curieux.  On  nomme  ainsl  un  pan  de 
muraille  (|ui,  avant  de  faire  partie  du  rempart  d'Honorius,  avail  servi  a  soutenir 
la  terrasse  du  jardin  de  Domitius,  et  qui,  du  temps  de  Helisaire,  6taitd6jii  incline 
conime  il  Test  aujourd'hui.  Pn^cope  raconte  que  Belisaire  voulait  le  rebatir, 
mais  que  les  Romains  Ten  enipiicherent,  affirmant  quo  ce  point  n'etait  pas  expose, 
parce  que  Saint  Pierre  avait  promis  dele  defendre.  Procope  ajoute  :  "  Personne 
n'a  os6  reparer  ce  mur,  et  il  reste  encore  dans  le  nienie  etat."  Nous  pouvons  en 
dire  autant  que  Procope,  et  le  mur,  detache  dc  la  colline  a  laquelle  il  s'appuyait, 
reste  encore  incline  et  semble  pres  de  tomher.  Ce  detail  du  sifege  de  Rome  est 
conflrme  par  I'aspect  singulier  du  Muro-Toi-to,  qui  xcmhle  toujours  prig  de 
tomher,  et  subsiste  dans  le  meme  etat  depuis  (luatorze  siedes,  comme  s'il  etait 
soutenu  miraculeuseraent  par  la  main  de  Saint  Pierre.  On  ne  saurait  guere 
trouver  pour  I'autorite  teniporelle  des  papes  un  meilleur  symbole.' — Ampere, 
Einp.  ii.  397. 

'  At  the  farthest  point  of  the  Pincio,  you  look  down  from  the  parapet  upon 
the  Muro-Torto,  a  massive  fragment  of  the  oldest  Roman  wall,  which  juts  over, 

1  Rome  has  six  times  been  fortified  by  walls— by  Romulus,  Servius  Tullius, 
Aurelian,  Honorius,  Leo  IV.,  and  Urban  VIII. 


The  Pincio  31 

as  if  ready  to  tumble  down  l)y  its  own  weight,  jet  seems  still  the  most  inde- 
structible piece  of  work  that  men's  hands  ever  iiileil  together.  In  the  blue 
distance  rise  Soracte  and  other  heights,  which  have  gleamed  afar,  to  our  imagina- 
tion, but  look  scarcely  real  to  our  bodily  eyes,  because  l)eing  dreamed  about  so 
much,  they  have  taken  aerial  tints  which  belong  only  to  a  dream.  These, 
nevertheless,  are  the  solid  framework  of  hills  that  shut  in  Home  and  its  broad 
surrounding  Campagna:  no  land  of  dreams,  but  the  broadest  page  of  history, 
crowded  so  full  with  memorable  events  that  one  obliterates  another,  as  if  Time 
had  crossed  and  recrossed  his  own  records  till  they  grew  illegible.' — Ilawthonw. 

A  votive  marble  tablet  recently  discovered  proves  that  the  Pincio 
formed  part  of  the  famous  gardens  of  the  Acilii  Glabriones,  which 
also  comprised  the  site  of  the  Villa  Medici,  the  convent  and  gar- 
den of  the  Trinith,,  and  half  the  Villa  Borghese.  This  family  was 
famous  in  Roman  history  from  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Thermo- 
pylae, in  which  the  consul  Acilius  Glabrio  (B.C.  191)  defeated  King 
Antiochus,  His  great-grandson,  the  consul  of  67,  commander-in- 
chief  in  the  Mithridatic  war,  is  better  known  as  the  praetor 
urbanus  who  presided  (B.C.  70)  over  the  impeachment  of  Verres. 
In  imperial  times  the  name  of  the  family  appears  eleven  times  in 
the  fasti  consularcs.  That  members  of  the  family — noblest  among 
the  noble,  as  Herodianus  calls  them — early  embraced  Christianity 
is  proved  by  the  discovery  of  the  tomb  of  Manius  Acilius  Verus 
and  Acilia  Priscilla  (son  and  daughter  of  Manius  Acilius  Glabrio), 
consul  A. D.  152,  in  the  Catacomb  of  Priscilla.  The  family  of 
Frangipani,  celebrated  in  mediaeval  history,  claimed  direct  descent 
from  the  Anicii. 

In  early  imperial  times  on  the  farther  part  of  the  hill,  beyond 
the  Trinitk,  was  the  famous  villa  of  Lucullus,  who  had  gained  his 
enormous  wealth  as  general  of  the  Roman  armies  in  Asia. 

'  The  life  of  Lucullus  was  like  an  ancient  comedy,  where  first  we  see  great 
actions,  both  political  and  military,  and  afterwards  feasts,  debauches,  races  by 
torchlight,  and  every  kind  of  frivolous  amusement.  For  among  frivolous  amuse- 
ments I  cannot  but  reckon  his  sumptuous  villas,  walks,  and  baths  ;  and  still 
more  so  the  paintings,  statues,  and  other  works  of  art  which  he  collected  at 
immense  expense,  idly  squandering  away  upon  them  the  vast  fortune  he  amassed 
in  the  wars.  Insomuch  that  now,  when  luxury  is  so  much  advanced,  the  gardens 
of  Lucullus  rank  with  those  of  the  kings,  and  are  esteemed  the  most  magnificent 
even  of  these,' — Plutarch. 

Here,  in  his  Pincian  villa,  Lucullus  gave  his  celebrated  feast  to 
Cicero  and  Pompey,  merely  mentioning  to  a  slave  beforehand  that 
he  should  sup  in  the  hall  of  Apollo,  which  was  understood  as  a  com- 
mand to  prepare  all  that  was  most  sumptuous.  After  Lucullus  the 
beautiful  villa  belonged  to  Valerius  Asiaticus,  and  in  the  reign  of 
Claudius  was  coveted  by  his  third  wife,  Messalina.  She  suborned 
Silius,  her  son's  tutor,  to  accuse  Asiaticus  of  a  licentious  life  and  of 
corrupting  the  army. 

Being  condemned  to  death,  he  '  declined  the  counsel  of  his  friends  to  starve 
himself,  a  course  which  might  leave  an  interval  for  the  chance  of  pardon  ;  and 
after  the  lofty  fashion  of  the  ancient  Romans,  bathed,  perfumed,  and  supped 
magnificently,  and  then  opened  his  veins,  and  let  himself  bleed  to  death.  Before 
dying  he  inspected  the  pyre  prepared  for  him  in  his  own  gardens,  and  ordered  it 
to  be  removed  to  another  spot,  that  an  umbrageous  plantation  which  overhung 
it  might  not  be  injured  by  the  flames. 


32  Walks  in  Rome 

'  As  goon  as  she  lieanl  of  his  death,  Messalina  took  possegsion  of  the  villa  and 
lu'M  hi},'li  revel  there  with  her  nunierons  lovers,  with  the  most  favoured  of  whom, 
.Mliiis.  she  had  actually  pme  throuch  the  relifiious  rites  of  marriage  in  the  life- 
thiie  <)f  the  emperor,  who  was  absent  at  Ostia.  15ut  a  conspinuy  anions  the 
freednien  of  the  royal  household  informed  the  emperor  (jf  what  was  taking  place, 
anil  at  last  even  Claudius  was  aroused  to  a  sense  of  her  enormities. 

'In  her  suhurhan  palace,  Messalina  was  abandonintc  herself  to  voluptuous 
transports,  'i'he  season  was  mid-autumn  ;  the  vintage  was  in  full  pro<;ress,  the 
wine-jiress  was  trroaninjr.  the  ruddy  juice  was  streaming  ;  women  girt  with  scanty 
favvnskins  danced  as  drunken  bacchanals  around  her  :  while  she  herself,  with 
her  hair  loose  and  disordered,  brandished  the  thyrsus  in  the  midst;  and  Siliusby 
her  side,  buskined  and  crowned  with  ivy,  tossed  his  head  to  the  flaunting  strains 
of  .Sileniis  and  the  Satyrs.  Vettius,  one,  it  seems,  of  the  wanton's  less  fortunate 
paramours,  attended  the  ceremony,  and  climbed  in  merriment  a  lofty  tree  in  the 
garden.  When  asked  what  he  saw,  he  replied,  "an  awfid  storm  from  Ostia;" 
and  whether  there  was  actually  such  an  ajjpearance,  or  whether  the  words  were 
si)oken  at  random,  they  were  accepted  afterwards  as  an  omen  of  the  catastrophe 
which  (|uickly  followed. 

'  Kor  now,  in  the  midst  of  these  wanton  orgies,  the  rumour  quickly  spread,  and 
swiftly  messengers  arrived  to  confirm  it,  that  Claudius  knew  it  all,  that  Claudius 
was  on  his  way  to  Rome,  and  wa.'  coining  in  anger  and  vengeance.  The  lovers 
part :  Silius  for  the  Korum  and  the  tribunals  ;  Messalina  for  the  shade  of  her 
gardens  on  the  Pincio,  the  price  of  the  blood  of  the  murdered  Asiaticus.  Once 
the  empress  attempted  to  go  forth  to  meet  Claudius,  taking  her  children  with 
her,  and  accompanied  by  Vibidia,  the  eldest  of  the  vestal  virgins,  whom  she  pev- 
suaded  to  intercede  for  her ;  but  her  enemies  prevented  her  gaining  access  to 
her  husband  ;  Vibidia  was  satisfied  for  the  moment  liy  vague  promises  of  a  later 
hearing;  and  upon  the  arrival  of  Claudius  in  Rome,  Silius  and  the  other  prin- 
cijial  lovers  of  the  empress  were  put  to  death.  Still  Messalina  hoped.  She  had 
withdrawn  again  to  the  gardens  of  Lucullus,  and  was  there  engaged  in  composing 
addresses  of  supplication  to  her  husliand.  in  which  her  pride  and  long-accus- 
tomed insolence  still  faintly  struggled  with  her  fears.  The  emperor  still  paltered 
with  the  treason.  He  had  retired  to  his  palace  ;  he  had  liathed,  anointed,  and 
lain  down  to  supper  ;  and,  warmed  with  wine  and  generous  cheer,  he  had  actually 
<lespatclied  a  message  to  the  p(Mir  creature,  as  he  called  her,  bidding  her  come  the 
next  day  and  plead  lier  cause  liefore  him.  But  her  enemy  Narcissus,  knowing  how 
easy  might  be  the  passage  from  compassion  to  love,  glided  from  the  chamlier,  and 
boldly  ordered  a  tribune  and  some  centurions  to  go  and  slay  his  victim.  "Such," 
he  said,  "  was  the  emperor's  command  ;  "  and  his  word  was  obeyed  without  hesi- 
tation. I'nder  the  direction  of  the  freedman  Euodus,  the  armed  men  sought 
the  outcast  in  her  gardens,  where  .she  lay  prostrate  on  the  ground,  by  the  side  of 
her  mother  Lepida.  While  their  fortunes  flourished,  dissensions  had  existed 
between  the  two ;  liut  now  in  her  last  distress,  the  mother  had  refused  to  desert 
her  child,  and  only  str(>ve  to  nerve  her  resolution  to  a  voluntary  death.  "Life," 
she  urged,  "is  over ;  nought  remains  but  to  look  for  a  decent  e.xit  from  it."  But 
the  soul  of  the  reju'obate  was  corrupted  by  her  vices  :  she  retained  no  sense  of 
honour  ;  she  continued  to  weep  and  groan  as  if  hope  still  existed  ;  when  suddenly 
the  doors  were  burst  open,  the  tribune  and  his  swordsmen  appeared  before 
her,  anil  Euodus  assailed  her,  dumb-stricken  as  she  lay,  with  contumelious  and 
brutal  reproaches.  Roused  at  last  to  the  consciousness  of  her  desperate  condi- 
tion, she  took  a  weapon  from  one  of  the  men's  hands  and  pressed  it  trembling 
against  her  throat  and  bosom.  Still  she  wanted  resolution  to  give  the  thrust, 
and  it  was  liy  a  blow  of  the  tribune's  falchion  that  the  horrid  deed  was  finally 
accomplished.  The  death  of  Asiaticus  was  avenged  on  the  very  spot ;  the  hot 
blood  of  the  wanton  smoked  on  the  pavement  of  his  gardens,  and  stained  with 
a  deeper  hue  the  variegated  marlilesof  LwcnWus.' ^Merivale,  'Hist,  of  the  liornann 
under  the  Empire.' 

From  the  garden  of  the  Pincio  a  terraced  road  (beneath  which 
are  the  long-closed  catacombs  of  S.  Felix)  lead.s  to  the  Villa  Medici, 
built  for  Cardinal  Kicci  da  Montepulciano  by  Annibale  Lippi  in 
1540,  -with  material  taken,  in  great  measure,  from  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  Capitolinns.     Shortly  afterwards  it  passed  into  the  hands 


The  Villa  Medici  33 

of  the  Medici  family,  and  was  greatly  enlarged  by  Cardinal  Ales- 
sandro  de'  Medici,  afterwards  Leo  XI.  In  1801  the  Academy  for 
French  Art  Students,  founded  by  Louis  XIV.,  was  established  here. 
The  villa  contains  a  fine  collection  of  casts,  open  every  day  except 
Sunday. 

Behind  the  villa,  occupying  the  site  of  the  gardens  of  the  Anicii, 
is  a  beautiful  Garden  (which  can  be  visited  on  Wednesdays  and 
Saturdays  by  application  to  the  porter).  The  terrace,  which  looks 
down  upon  the  Villa  Borghese,  is  bordered  by  ancient  sarcophagi, 
and  has  a  colossal  statue  of  Rome.  The  garden  side  of  the  villa 
has  sometimes  been  ascribed  to  Michelangelo. 

Amongst  the  statues  at  the  back  of  the  villa  is  one — between 
two  pillars — to  which  a  head  recalling  that  of  the  Meleager,  of 
very  great  beauty  and  Greek  workmanship,  has  been  added.  It 
has  been  attributed  to  Scopas,  of  4  B.C. 

'  La  plus  grande  coquetterie  de  la  maison,  c'est  la  fagade  posterieure.  EUe 
tient  son  rang  parmi  les  cliefs-d'cBuvre  de  la  Renaissance.  On  dirait  que  I'archi- 
tecte  a  6puis6  une  mine  de  bas-reliefs  grecs  et  remains  pour  en  tapisser  son 
palais.  Le  jardin  est  de  la  meme  6poque :  il  date  du  temps  ou  I'aristocratie 
romaine  professait  le  plus  profond  dedain  pour  les  fleurs.  On  n'y  voit  que  des 
massifs  de  verdure,  aligiies  avec  un  soin  scrupuleux.  Six  pelouses,  entourees  de 
haies  a  hauteur  d'appui,  s'^tendent  devant  la  villa  et  laissent  courir  la  vue 
jusqu'au  mont  Soracte,  qui  fernie  I'horizon.  A  gauche,  quatre  fois  quatre  carr6s 
de  gazon  s'encadrent  dans  de  hautes  murailles  de  lauriers,  de  buis  gigantesques 
et  de  chiines  verts.  Les  murailles  se  rejoignent  au-dessus  des  allees  et  les  enve- 
loppent  d'uue  ombre  fraiche  et  mysttTieuse.  A  droite,  une  terrasse  d'un  style 
noble  encadre  un  bois  du  chenes  verts,  tordus  et  eventres  par  le  temps.  J'y  vais 
quelquefois  travailler  k  I'ombre  ;  et  le  merle  rivalise  avec  le  rossignol  au-dessus 
de  ma  tete,  comme  un  beau  chantre  de  village  pent  rivaliser  avec  Mario  ou  Roger. 
Un  peu  plus  loin,  une  vigne  toute  rustique  s'etend  jusqn't\  la  porte  Pinciana,  ou 
Belisaire  a  mendie,  dit-ou.  Les  jardins  petits  et  grands  sont  seni^s  de  statues 
d'Herm6s,  et  de  marbres  de  toute  sorte.  L'eau  coule  dans  des  sarcophages 
antiques  ou  jaillit  dans  des  vasques  de  marbre  :  le  marbre  et  l'eau  sont  les  deux 
luxes  de  Rome.' — About,  '  Rome  Contemporaine.' 

'  The  grounds  of  the  Villa  Medici  are  laid  out  in  the  old  fashion  of  straight 
paths,  with  liorders  of  box,  which  form  hedges  of  great  height  and  density,  and 
are  shorn  and  trimmed  to  the  evenness  of  a  wall  of  stone  at  the  top  and  sides. 
There  are  green  alleys,  with  long  vistas,  overshadowed  by  ilex-trees  ;  and  at  each 
intersection  of  the  paths  the  visitor  finds  seats  of  lichen-covered  stone  to  repose 
upon,  and  marble  statues  that  look  forlornly  at  him,  regretful  of  their  lost  noses. 
In  the  more  open  portions  of  the  garden,  before  the  sculptured  front  of  the  villa, 
you  see  fountains  and  flower-beds  ;  and  in  their  season,  a  profusion  of  roses,  from 
which  the  genial  sun  of  Italy  distils  a  fragrance  to  be  scattered  abroad  by  the  no 
less  genial  breeze.' — Hawthorne. 

The  clipped  walks  give  a  good  idea  of  an  ancient  Roman  garden, 
in  which  no  tree  was  allowed  to  grow  in  its  own  way,  but  was 
forced  by  the  topiarius  into  a  prescribed  form,  and  walls  of  green 
bay  or  box  were  made  with  niches,  doors,  or  windows,  as  in  archi- 
tectural designs. 

'  Quel  merveilleux  jardin  encore,  avec  ses  buis,  ses  pins,  ses  alli^es  de  magni- 
ficence et  de  charme  !  quel  refuge  de  reverie  antique  que  le  tres  vieux  et  tr6s 
noir  bois  de  chenes  verts,  oii,  dans  le  bronze  luisant  des  feuilles,  le  soleil  a,  son 
d6clin  jette  des  lueurs  brasillantes  d'or  rouge  1  II  y  faut  monter  par  lui  escalier 
interminable,  et  de  lii-haut,  du  belvtidfere  qui  domine,  on  possede  Rome  enti^re 
d'un  regard,  comme  si,  en  61argissant  les  bras,  on  allait  la  prendre  toute.' — Zola, 
'  Home.' 

VOL.   I.  C 


34  Walks  in  Rome 

A  second  door  will  admit  to  the  higher  terrace  of  the  Boschetto  ; 
a  tiny  wood  of  ancient  ilexes,  from  which  a  steep  Hight  of  steps 
loadsup  II  Pamaso  or  the  '  Belvidcre,'  an  artificial  mound  formed 
on  an  ancient  nympheum  by  Cardinal  Ricci,  whence,  till  the 
recent  destruction  of  the  Villa  Ludovisi,  a  most  exquisite  view 
might  be  obtained. 

'They  asked  the  porter  for  the  key  of  the  Kosco,  which  was  pi  veil,  and  they 
entereii  a  trrove  of  ilexes,  wliose  ftlooniy  sliade  effectually  shut  out  the  radiant  sun- 
shine that  still  illuminated  the  western  sky.  They  then  ascended  a  long  and 
exceedingly  steep  llitrht  of  steps,  leading  up  to  a  hifrh  mound  covered  with  ilexes. 
Here  both  stood  still,  side  hy  side,  gazing  silently  on  the  city,  where  dome  and 
bell-tower  stood  out  against  a  sky  of  gold  ;  the  desolate  Monte  Mario  and 
its  stone  pines  rising  dark  to  the  right.  Behind,  close  at  hand,  were  sombre 
ilex  woods,  amid  which  rose  here  and  there  the  spire  of  a  cypress  or  a  ruined 
arch,  and  on  the  highest  point,  the  white  Villa  Ludovisi ;  beyond  stretched 
the  bainpagna,  girdled  by  hills  melting  into  light  under  the  evening  sky.'— 
'  itadeinuisellc  3lori.' 

From  the  door  of  the  Vilk'.  Medici  is  the  scene  familiar  to  artists, 
of  a  fountain  shaded  by  ilexes,  which  frame  a  distant  view  of  S. 
Peter's. 

'  Je  vois  (de  la  Villa  Medici)  les  quatre  cinquifemes  de  la  villa ;  je  compte  les  sept 
collines,  je  parcours  les  rues  reguliferes  ((ui  s'etendent  entre  le  cours  et  la  place 
d'Espagne,  je  fais  le  d^nombrement  des  palais,  des  eglises,  des  domes,  et  des 
clocheis  ;  je  m'egare  dans  le  Ghetto  et  dans  le  Trastevere.  Je  ne  vois  pas  des 
ruines  autant  que  j'en  voudrais  :  elles  sont  ramassees  la-bas,  sur  nia  gauche,  aux 
environs  du  Forum.  Cependant  nous  avons  tout  pres  de  nous  la  colonne  Antonine 
et  le  mausolt-e  d'Adrien.  La  vue  est  fermee  agi'eablement  par  les  pins  de  la  villa 
Pamphili,  qui  reunissent  leurs  larges  parasols  et  font  comnie  nne  table  a  mille 
pieds  pour  un  repas  de  geants.  L'horizon  fuit  a  gauche  a  des  distances  inflnies  ; 
la  plaine  est  nue,  onduleuse  et  bleue  comme  la  mer.  Mais  si  je  vous  mettais  en 
presence  d'uii  spectacle  si  ^tendu  et  si  divers,  un  seul  objet  attirerait  vos  regards, 
un  seul  frapperait  votre  attention  :  vous  n'auriez  desyeux  que  pour  Saint-Pierre. 
Son  dome  est  moiti6  dans  la  ville,  moiti^  dans  le  ciel.  Quand  j'ouvre  ma  feniitre, 
vers  cinq  heures  du  matin,  je  vois  Eome  noy^e  dans  les  brouillards  de  la  flevre  : 
seul,  le  dome  de  Saint-Pierre  est  colore  par  la  lumiere  rose  du  soleil  levant.' 
— Abcmt. 

The  terrace  ('La  Passeggiata')  ends  at  the  Obelisk^  of  the 
Trinita  de'  Monti,  erected  here  in  1789  by  Pius  VI. 

'  When  the  Ave  Maria  sounds,  it  is  time  to  go  to  the  church  of  Trinity  de'  Monti, 
where  French  nuns  sing ;  and  it  is  charming  to  hear  them.  I  declare  to  heaven 
that  I  am  become  quite  tolerant,  and  listen  to  bad  music  with  edification  ;  but 
what  can  I  do?  The  composition  is  perfectly  ridiculous,  the  organ-playing  even 
more  absurd  :  but  it  is  twilight,  and  the  whole  of  the  small  bright  church  is  filled 
with  persons  kneeling,  lit  up  by  the  sinking  sun  each  time  that  the  door  is  opened; 
both  the  singing  nuns  have  the  sweetest  voices  in  the  world,  (luite  tender  and 
touching,  more  especially  when  one  of  them  sings  the  responses  in  her  melodious 
voice,  which  we  are  accustomed  to  hear  chaunted  by  priests  in  a  loud,  harsh, 
monotonous  tone.  The  impression  is  very  singular ;  nif ireover,  it  is  well  known 
that  no  one  is  permitted  to  see  the  fair  singers,  so  this  caused  me  to  form  a 
strange  resolution.  I  have  composed  something  to  suit  their  voices,  which  I 
have  observed  very  minutely,  and  I  mean  to  send  it  to  them.    It  will  be  pleasant 


1  The  obelisk  was  formerly  in  the  gardens  of  Sallust  on  the  Quirinal.  Fauna 
in  1548  (DeW  Antichita  di  lioma),  and  Pyrrho  Ligori  in  1553,  saw  it  lying  there. 
Thence  it  was  removed  by  Clement  XTI.,  in  1735,  to  the  small  quadrangle  near 
S.  John  Lateran,  where  it  was  seen  still  prostrate  in  1771  (Rossini,  II  Mernuio 
Errante).  Pius  VL  employed  the  architect  Antinori  to  erect  it  in  its  present 
position.    Its  socle  remains  neglected  in  the  Piazza  del  Maccao. 


The  Church  of  the  Trinity  de'  Monti  35 

to  hear  my  chaunt  performed  by  persons  1  never  saw,  especially  as  they  must  in 
turn  sing  it  to  the  "  barbaro  Tedesco,"  whom  they  also  never  heheld-'—iMendeh- 

sohn's  Letters. 

'  In  the  evenings  people  go  to  the  Trinitil  to  hear  tlie  nuns  sing  from  the  oi'gan- 
gallery.  It  sounds  like  the  singing  of  angels.  One  sees  in  the  choir  troops  of 
young  scholars,  moving  with  slow  and  measured  steps,  with  their  long  white 
veils,  like  a  Hock  of  spirits.' — Frederika  Bremer. 

The  Church  of  the  Trinita  de'  Monti  was  built  by  Charles  VIII. 
of  France  in  1495,  at  the  request  of  S.  Francesco  di  Paola.  In  the 
time  of  the  French  Eevolution  it  was  plundered,  but  was  restored  by 
Louis  XVIII.  in  1817.     It  contained  several  interesting  paintings. 

In  the  second  chapel  on  the  left  is  the  Descent  from  the  Cross 
the  masterpiece  of  Danide  da  Volterra,  declared  by  Nicholas 
Poussin  to  be  the  third  picture  in  the  world,  but  terribly  injured 
by  the  French  in  their  attempts  to  remove  it. 

'We  might  almost  fancy  ourselves  spectators  of  the  mournful  scene,— the 
Redeemer,  while  being  removed  from  the  cross,  gradually  sinking  down  with  all 
that  relaxation  of  limb  and  utter  helplessness  which  belongs  to  a  dead  body  ;  the 
assistants  engaged  in  their  various  duties,  and  thrown  into  different  and  con- 
trasted attitudes,  intently  occupied  with  the  sacred  remains  which  they  so 
reverently  gaze  upon  ;  the  mother  of  the  Lord  in  a  swoon  amidst  her  afflicted 
companions  ;  the  disciple  whom  He  loved  standing  with  outstretched  arms, 
absorbed  in  contemplating  the  mysterious  spectacle.  The  truth  in  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  exposed  parts  of  the  body  appears  to  be  nature  itself.  The 
colouring  of  the  heads  and  of  the  whole  picture  accords  precisely  with  the 
subject,  displaying  strength  rather  than  delicacy,  a  harmony,  and  in  short  a 
degree  of  skill,  of  which  jSIichelangelo  himself  might  have  been  proud,  if  the 
picture  had  been  inscribed  with  his  name.  And  to  this  I  believe  the  author 
alluded,  when  he  painted  his  friend  with  a  looking-glass  near,  as  if  to  intimate 
that  he  might  recognise  in  the  picture  a  reflection  of  himself.' —Latizi. 

'  Daniele  da  Volterra's  Descent  from  the  Cross  is  one  of  the  celebrated  pictures 
of  the  world,  and  has  very  grand  features.  The  body  is  not  skilfully  sustained  ; 
nevertheless  the  number  of  strong  men  employed  about  it  makes  up  in  sheer 
muscle  for  the  absence  of  skill.  Here  are  four  ladders  against  the  cross,  stalwart 
figures  standing,  ascending,  and  descending  upon  each,  so  that  the  space  between 
the  cross  and  the  ground  is  absolutely  alive  with  magniflcent  lines.  The  Virgin 
lies  on  one  side,  and  is  like  a  grand  creature  struck  down  by  a  sudden  death-blow. 
She  has  fallen,  like  Ananias  in  Raffaelle's  cartoon,  with  her  head  bent  backwards, 
and  her  arm  under  her.  The  crown  of  thorns  has  been  taken  from  the  dead 
brow,  and  rests  on  the  end  of  one  of  the  ladders.' — Lady  Eastlake. 

The  third  chapel  on  the  ricrht  contains  an  Assumption  of  the 
Virgin,  another  work  of  Daniele  da  Volterra.  The  fifth  chapel  is 
adorned  with  frescoes  of  his  school.  The  sixth  has  frescoes  of  the 
school  of  Perugino.  The  frescoes  in  the  right  transept  are  by  F. 
Zuccaro  and  Pierino  del  Vaga  ;  in  that  of  the  procession  of  S.  Gregory 
the  mausoleum  of  Hadrian  is  represented  as  it  appeared  in  the  time 
of  Leo  X. 

The  adjoining  Convent  of  the  Sacre  Coeur  is  much  frequented  as 
a  place  of  education.  The  nuns  are  all  persons  of  rank.  When  a 
lady  takes  the  veil,  her  nearest  relations  inherit  her  property,  except 
about  £1000,  which  goes  to  the  convent.  The  nuns — Dames  du 
Sacre  Coeur — are  allowed  to  retain  no  personal  property,  but  if  they 
still  wish  to  have  the  use  of  their  books,  they  give  them  to  the  con- 
vent library.  They  receive  visitors  every  afternoon,  and  quantities 
of  people  go  to  them  from  curiosity,  on  the  plea  of  seeking  advice. 


36  Walks  in  Rome 

From  the  Trinita  the  two  popular  streets — Sistina  and  Gregoriana 
— branch  off  ;  the  former  leading  in  a  direct  line  (though  the  name 
changes)  to  !S.  Maria  Maggiore,  and  thence  to  S.  John  Lateran  and 
S.  Croce  in  Gerusalenime.  The  house  adjoining  the  Trinitii  was  that 
of  Nicholas  Toussin  ;  that  at  the  angle  of  the  two  streets,  called  the 
Tempietto,  was  once  inhabited  by  Claude  Lorraine.  At  the  back  of 
it,  towards  Via  Gregoriana,  is  a  curious  porch  formed  by  a  monster. 
The  adjoining  house  (04  Sistina) — formerly  known  as  Palazzo  della 
Regina  di  Polonia,  from  Maria  Casimira,  Queen  of  Poland,  who  re- 
sided there  for  some  years — was  inhabited  by  the  Zuccari  family, 
and  lias  paintings  on  the  ground  floor  by  Fcdcrigo  Zuccaro.  One  of 
the  rooH'.s  on  the  second  tloor  was  adorned  with  frescoes  by  modern 
German  artists  (Overbeck,  Schadow,  Cornelius,  Veit)  at  the  expense 
of  the  Prussian  Consul  Bartholdy,  but  they  were  all  removed  to 
Germany  in  1880.  At  No.  138  a  tablet  marks  the  house  where 
Rossini  (1790-1857)  lived  ana  wrote. 

Behind  the  Via  Sistina  is  the  Villa  Malta,  where,  in  1789,  the 
famous  Cagliostro  held  his  meetings  and  practised  his  so-called 
miracles  of  increasing  the  size  of  precious  stones  and  turning  water 
into  wine.  

On  the  left  of  the  Piazza  del  Popolo,  the  Via  Babuino  branches 
off,  deriving  its  name  from  a  mutilated  figure  on  a  fountain  half- 
way down,  removed  since  the  fall  of  the  Papal  Government,  one  of 
the"  many  robberies  of  street  interest  to  be  deplored.  On  the  right 
is  the  English  Church,  a  feeble  work  of  Street,  chiefly  erected  by 
the  generous  exertions  of  Mrs.  Henry  Walpole.  A  few  steps  farther 
is  the  Greek  Church  of  S.  Atanasio,  attached  to  a  college  founded 
by  Gregorv  XIII.  in  1.580.  In  No.  14i  John  Gibson,  the  sculptor, 
died,  January  27,  1860. 

Behind  this  street  is  the  Via  Margutta,  almost  entirely  inhabited 
by  artists  and  sculptors,  and  which  till  recently  contained  the 
Costume  Academy  of  '  Gigi,'  well  known  through  many  generations 
of  artists,  but  recently  destroyed.  Models  are  now  obtained  at  the 
Circolo  degli  Artisti. 

'  The  Via  Margutta  is  a  street  of  studios  and  stables,  crossed  at  the  upper  end 
Ijy  a  little  roofed  gallery  with  a  single  window,  like  a  shaliby  Bridge  of  Sighs. 
Horses  are  continually  being  washed  and  currycombed  outside  their  stable  doors  ; 
frequent  heaps  of  immondezzajo  make  the  air  unfragrant ;  and  the  perspective  is 
fre(iuently  damaged  by  rows  of  linen  suspended  across  the  road  from  window  to 
window.  Utisightly  as  they  are,  however,  these  obstacles  in  no  wise  affect  the 
popularity  of  the  Via  ifargutta,  either  as  a  residence  for  the  artist  or  a  lounge 
for  the  amateur.  Fashionable  patrons  leave  their  carriages  at  the  corner,  and 
pick  their  way  daintily  among  the  gutters  and  dust-heaps.  A  boar-hunt  by 
Vallatti  compensates  for  an  unluckysplash;  and  a  Campagna  sunset  of  Desoulavey 
glows  all  the  richer  for  the  sciualor  tluough  which  it  is  approached.' — Barbara'^ 
nistor;i. 

The  Vicolo  d'Aliberti,  which  unites  the  Via  Margutta  to  the 
BaVjuino,  derives  its  name  from  having  contained  the  celebrated 
Teatro  dclle  Dame,  built  by  M.  d'Alibert,  equerry  to  Queen  Christina. 
This  was  the  principal  theatre  of  the  eighteenth  century,  for  which 


The  Piazza  di  Spagna  37 

Metastasio  wrote  his  plays,  and  where  the  compositions  of  Porpora, 
Leo,  Durante,  Galuppi,  Jomelli,  &c. ,  were  first  given  to  the  public. 
The  Balbuino  ends  in  the  ngly  but  central  square  of  the  Piazza 
di  Spagna,  where  many  of  the  best  hotels  and  shops  are  situated. 
Every  house  is  let  to  foreigners.  Even  in  1580  Montaigne  writes  of 
Rome  as  'rappieccie  d'estrangiers,  une  ville  ou  chacun  prant  sa  part 
de  I'oisifvetd  ecclesiastique.'  Hence  the  Trinita  is  reached  by  a 
magnificent  flight  of  steps,  which  was  built  by  Alessandro  Specchi 
at  the  expense  of  a  private  individual,  M.  Guettier,  secretary  to  the 
French  embassy  at  Rome  under  Innocent  XIII. 

'  No  art-loving  visitor  to  Rome  can  ever  liave  passed  the  noble  flight  of  steps 
which  leads  from  the  Piazza  di  Spagna  to  the  Church  of  the  Triniti  de'  Monti 
without  longing  to  transfer  to  his  sketch-book  the  picturesque  groups  of  models 
who  there  spend  their  day,  basking  in  the  beams  of  the  wintry  sun,  and  eating 
those  little  boiled  beans  whose  yellow  husks  bestrew  every  place  where  the 
lower-class  Romans  congregate — practising,  in  short,  the  dolcefar  niente.  Beppo, 
the  celebrated  lame  beggar,  is  no  longer  to  be  seen  there,  having  been  banished 
to  the  steps  of  the  church  of  S.  Agostino  ;  but  there  is  old  Felice,  with  conical 
hat,  brown  cloak,  and  bagpipes,  father  of  half  the  models  on  the  steps.  He  has 
l)een  seen  in  an  artist's  studio  in  Paris,  and  is  reported  to  have  performed  on 
foot  the  double  journey  between  Rome  and  that  capital.  There  are  two  or  three 
younger  men  in  blue  jackets  and  goatskin  breeches  ;  as  many  women  in  folded 
linen  head-dresses  and  red  or  blue  skirts  ;  and  a  sprinkling  of  children  of  both 
sexes,  in  costumes  the  miniature  fac-similes  of  their  elders.  All  these  speedily 
learn  to  recognise  a  visitor  who  is  interested  in  that  especial  branch  of  art  which 
is  embodied  in  models,  and  at  every  turn  in  the  street  such  a  one  is  met  by  the 
flash  of  white  teeth  and  the  gracious  sweetness  of  an  Italian  smile.' — //.  M.  B. 

'  Among  what  maj'  be  called  the  cubs  or  minor  lions  of  Rome,  there  was  one 
that  amused  me  mightily.  It  is  always  to  be  found  there  ;  and  its  den  is  on  the 
great  flight  of  steps  that  lead  from  the  Piazza  di  Spagna  to.  the  church  of  the 
Trinita  de'  Monti.  In  plainer  words,  these  steps  are  the  great  place  of  resort 
for  the  artists'  "  models,"  and  there  they  are  constantly  waiting  to  be  hired.  The 
first  time  I  went  up  there  I  could  not  conceive  why  the  faces  seemed  so  familiar 
to  me  ;  why  they  appeared  to  have  beset  me,  for  years,  in  every  possible  variety 
of  action  and  costume  ;  and  how  it  came  to  pass  that  they  started  up  before  me, 
in  Rome,  in  the  broad  day,  like  so  many  saddled  and  bridled  nightmares.  I  soou 
found  that  we  had  made  acquaintance,  and  improved  it,  for  several  years  on  the 
walls  of  various  Exhibition  Galleries.  There  is  one  old  gentleman  with  long 
white  hair  and  an  immense  beard,  who,  to  my  knowledge,  has  gone  half  through 
the  catalogues  of  the  Royal  Academy.  This  is  the  venerable  or  patriarchal 
model.  He  carries  a  long  staff  ;  and  every  knob  and  twist  in  that  staft'  I  have 
seen,  faithfully  delineated,  inniunerable  times.  There  is  another  man  in  a  blue 
cloak,  who  always  pretends  to  lie  asleep  in  the  sun  (when  there  is  any),  and  who, 
I  need  not  say,  is  always  very  wide  awake,  and  very  attentive  to  the  disposition 
of  his  legs.  This  is  the  dolcefar  niente  model.  There  is  another  man  in  a  brown 
cloak,  who  leans  against  a  wall,  with  his  arms  folded  in  his  mantle,  and  looks 
out  of  the  corners  of  his  eyes,  which  are  just  visible  beneath  his  broad  slouched 
hat.  This  is  the  assassin  model.  There  is  another  man,  who  constantly  looks 
over  his  own  shoulder,  and  is  always  going  away,  but  never  goes.  This  is  the 
haughty  or  scornful  model.  As  to  Domestic  Happiness  and  Holy  Families,  they 
should  come  very  cheap,  for  there  are  heaps  of  them,  all  up  the  steps ;  and  the 
cream  of  the  thing  is,  that  they  are  all  the  falsest  vagabonds  in  the  world, 
especially  made  up  for  the  purpose,  and  having  no  counterparts  in  Rome  or  any 
other  part  of  the  habitable  globe.' — Dickens. 

'  Climb  these  steps  when  the  sun  is  setting.  From  a  hundred  belfries  the  bells 
ring  for  Ave  Maria,  and  there,  across  the  town,  and  in  a  blaze  of  golden  glory, 
stands  the  great  dome  of  S.  Peter's ;  and  from  the  terrace  of  the  Villa  Aledici 
you  can  see  the  whole  wonderful  view,  faintly  pencilled  Soracte  far  to  your  right, 
and  below  you  and  around  you  the  City  and  the  Seven  Hills.' — Vera. 


1 47H4^ 


38  Walks  in  Rome 

The  house  on  the  right  of  the  steps,  marked  by  an  inscription,  is 
that  in  which  the  poet  Keats  died,  February  24,  1821. 

The  Barcaccia  (restored),  the  fountain  at  the  foot  of  the  steps, 
executed  by  Jiirnini,  is  a  stone  boat  commemorating  the  naumachia 
of  Domitian — naval  battles  which  took  i)lace  in  an  artificial  lake 
surrounded  by  a  kind  of  theatre,  wliich  once  occupied  the  site  of 
this  piazza.  In  from  of  the  Palazzo  di  Spagna  (the  residence  of  the 
iSpanish  ambassador  to  the  Pope,  and  where  Alfieri  triumphed  in  a 
magnificent  representation  of  his  '  Antigone  '  under  Pius  VI.),  which 
gives  its  name  to  the  square,  stands  a  Column  of  cipollino,  support- 
ing a  statue  of  the  Virgin,  erected  by  Pius  IX.  in  185i,  in  honour 
of  his  new  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  At  the  base  are 
figures  of  Moses,  David,  Isaiah,  and  Ezekiel. 

The  Piazza  di  Spagna  may  be  considered  as  the  centre  of  what  is 
called  the  '  English  quarter '  of  Rome,  of  which  the  Corso  forms  the 
boundary. 

'  Every  winter  there  is  a  gay  and  pleasant  English  colony  in  Rome,  of  course 
more  or  less  remarkable  for  rank,  fashion  and  agreeability,  with  every  varying 
year.  Thrown  together  evei-j'  day,  and  night  after  night ;  flocking  to  the  same 
picture  galleries,  statue  galleries,  Pincian  drives,  and  church  functions,  the 
English  colonists  at  Rome  perforce  l)ecome  intimate,  in  many  cases  friendly. 
They  have  an  Englisli  library,  where  the  various  meets  for  the  week  are  placarded: 
on  such  a  day  the  Vatican  galleries  are  open  ;  the  next  is  the  feast  of  Saint  so- 
and-so  ;  on  AVednesday  there  will  be  music  and  vespers  in  the  .Sistine  Chapel ; 
on  'J'hursday  the  Pope  will  bless  the  animals — sheep,  horses,  and  what  not ;  and 
flocks  of  English  accordingly  rush  to  witness  the  benediction  of  droves  of  donkeys. 
In  a  word,  the  ancient  city  of  the  Caesars,  the  august  fanes  of  the  Popes,  with 
their  sidendour  and  ceremony,  are  all  mapped  out  and  arranged  for  English 
diversion.  '—Thackeray. 

The  Piazza  is  closed  by  the  CoUegio  di  Propaganda  Fede,  founded 
in  1G22  by  Gregory  XV.,  but  enlarged  by  Urban  VIII.,  who  built 
the  present  edifice  from  plans  of  Bernini.  Like  all  the  buildings 
erected  by  this  Pope,  its  chief  decorations  are  the  bees  of  the 
Barberini.  The  object  of  the  College  is  the  education  of  youths 
of  all  nations  as  missionaries. 

'  The  origin  of  the  Propaganda  is  properly  to  be  sought  in  an  edict  of  Gregory 
XIII.,  by  which  the  direction  of  Eastern  missions  was  confided  to  a  certain 
number  of  cardinals,  who  were  commanded  to  promote  the  printing  of  catechisms 
in  the  less  known  tongues.  But  the  institution  was  not  firmly  established ;  it 
was  unprovided  with  the  requisite  means,  and  was  l)y  no  means  comprehensive 
in  its  views.  It  was  at  the  suggestion  of  the  great  preacher  Girolami  da  Narni 
that  the  idea  was  first  conceived  of  extending  the  above-named  institution.  At 
his  suggestion  a  congregation  was  established  in  all  due  form,  and  by  this  body 
regular  meetings  were  to  be  held  for  the  guidance  and  conduct  of  missions  in 
every  part  of  the  world.  The  first  funds  were  advanced  liy  Gregory  ;  his  nephew 
contributed  from  his  private  property  ;  and  since  this  institution  was  in  fact 
adapted  to  a  want,  the  pressure  of  which  was  then  felt,  it  increased  in  prosperity 
and  splendour.  Who  does  not  know  the  services  performed  by  the  Propaganda 
for  the  diffusion  of  philosophical  studies  ?  and  not  this  only  :  the  institution  has 
generally  laboured  (in  its  earliest  years,  most  successfully,  perhaps)  to  fulfil  its 
vocation  in  a  liberal  and  noble  spirit.'— iia7!/kc,  '  Hint,  of  the  Popes.' 

'  On  y  re(;oit  des  jeimes  gens  nds  dans  les  pays  ultramontains  et  orientaux,  oil 
sonl  les  intldeles  et  les  heretiiiues  ;  ils  y  font  leur  education  religieuse  et  civile,  et 
retournent  dans  leur  pays  comme  missionnaires  pour  propager  la  foi.'—A.  Du 
Pays. 


The  Via  Ripetta  39 

'  Le  college  dii  Propaganda  Fede,  oil  Ton  engraisse  des  niissionnaires  pour 
donner  i  manger  aiix  cannibales.  C'est,  ma  foi,  uii  cxcelloiit  rii;;out  pour  eux, 
que  deux  p6res  franciscains  ;i  la  sauce  rousse.  Lc  tapucliiii  en  d;iube  se  mange 
aussi  comme  le  renard,  quaud  il  a  ute  gele.  II  y  a  ii  la  I'ropagaiida  une  biblio- 
tlieque,  une  imprimerie  fournie  de  toutes  sortes  de  caracteres  des  langues 
(irientales,  et  de  petits  Chinois  ((u'on  y  6lu\e  ainsi  ((ue  desalouettes  chanterelles, 
pour  en  attraper  d'autres.' — De  liraxscs. 

In  January  a  festival  is  held  here,  when  speeches  are  recited  hy 
the  pupils  in  all  their  different  languages.  The  public  is  admitted 
by  tickets.  The  printing-office  for  foreign  languages — TijDografia 
Poliglotta — has  long  been  celebrated.  The  Borgia  Museum,  on  the 
second  floor,  is  shown  free  on  Mondays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays. 
It  is  like  many  provincial  museums  in  England,  and  scarcely  worth 
a  visit.  An  interesting  relic,  however,  is  the  map  of  the  world, 
with  the  line  which  Alexander  VI.  drew  to  mark  the  division  of 
Spain  and  Portugal  in  the  Indian  discoveries. 

In  the  opposite  Piazza  Miguanelli,  Joseph  Mallord  Turner  spent 
the  winter  of  1828-29  at  No.  12,  and  painted  there  his  view  of 
Orvieto  and  several  other  pictures — a  good-tempered,  funny  little 
gentleman,  continuously  sketching  at  his  window. 


The  Via  Ripetta  leaves  the  Piazza  del  Popolo  on  the  right.  A 
semicircular  space  on  the  right  of  the  street  presents  a  lively  scene 
every  Saturday  at  noon,  during  the  drawing  of  the  Roman  lottery. 

'  In  the  middle  of  the  lialcony,  on  the  rail,  is  fixed  a  glass  barrel,  with  a  handle 
to  turn  it  round.  Behind  it  stand  three  or  four  officials,  who  have  been  just  now 
ushered  in  with  a  blast  from  two  trumpeters,  also  stationed  in  the  balcony. 
Immediately  behind  the  glass  barrel  itself  stands  a  boy  of  some  twelve  or 
thirteen  years,  dressed  in  the  white  uniform  of  one  of  the  orphan  establish- 
ments, with  a  huge  white  shovel  hat.  Some  time  is  occupied  by  the  folding, 
and  putting  into  the  barrel,  pieces  of  paper,  inscribed  with  the  numbers,  from 
one  upwards.  Each  of  these  is  proclaimed,  as  folded  and  put  in,  by  one  of  the 
officials  who  acts  as  spokesman  or  crier.  At  last,  after  eighty-seven,  eighty- 
eight,  and  eighty-nine  have  been  given  out,  he  raises  his  voice  to  a  chant,  and 
sings  forth,  Nuinero  novanta,  "number  ninety,"  this  completing  the  number 
put  in. 

'  And  now,  or  before  this,  appears  on  the  balcony  another  character — no  less 
a  person  than  a  Monsignore,  who  appears,  not  in  his  ordinary,  but  in  his  more 
solemn  official  costume ;  and  this  connects  the  ceremonial  directly  with  the 
spiritual  authority  of  the  realm.  And  now  commences  the  drawing.  The  barrel 
having  been  for  some  time  turned  rapidly  round  to  shuffle  the  ninnbers,  the 
orphan  takes  off  his  hat,  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  having  waved  his  open 
hand  in  the  air  to  show  that  it  is  empty,  inserts  it  into  the  barrel,  and  draws  out 
a  number,  giving  it  to  the  Monsignore,  who  opens  it  and  hands  it  to  the  crier. 
This  latter  then  proclaims  it — "  Prima  estratta,  mnnero  venti  cinque."  Then  the 
trumpets  blow  their  blast,  and  the  same  is  repeated  four  times  more,  the  pro- 
clamation each  time,  Seconda  estratta,  Terza,  Qtiarta,  Quinta,  &c.,  five  nmnbers 
being  thus  the  whole  drawn,  out  of  ninety  put  in.  This  done,  with  various  ex- 
pressions of  surprise,  delight,  or  disappointment  from  the  crowd  below,  the 
officials  disappear,  the  square  empties  itself,  and  all  is  as  usual  till  the  next 
Saturday  at  the  same  time.  .  .  . 

'  In  almost  every  street  in  Rome  are  shops  devoted  to  the  purchase  of  lottery 
tickets.  Two  numbers  purchased  with  the  double  chance  of  those  two  numbers 
turning  up  are  called  an  ambo,  and  three  purchased  with  the  treble  chance  of 
those  three  turning  up  are  called  a  terno,  and,  of  course,  the  higher  and  more 
perilous  the  stake,  the  richer  the  prize,  if  obtained.'— ^lyorU's  Letters  from 
Abroad. 


40  Walks  in  Rome 

'  Les  ctrangers  (lui  vkiiiu-iit  :i  Koine  cnniniencent  par  l)lainer  seviMcment  la 
Intcrie.  An  Iwut  ile  fnieli(iie  temps,  I'esprit  de  toKraiice  (jui  est  lians  I'.iir  penutre 
peu-ii-peu  JHSiiu'au  foiul  de  leur  cerveau  ;  ils  excuseiit  uii  jcu  philaiithiopique  iiui 
I'uurnit  an  pauvre  peui)le  six  jours  li'esperaiices  pour  liiiq  sous.  BieiitOt,  pour  se 
remire  conipte  du  niecanisnie  de  la  loterie,  ils  entreiit  eux-uKines  dans  un  bureau, 
en  evitant  de  se  laisser  voir.  Trois  mois  apres,  ils  poursuivent  ouvertenient  une 
conibinai.son  savante  ;  ils  ont  une  thuorie  inath<iniali()ue  (piils  sigiieraieiit  volon- 
tiers  de  leur  noni ;  ils  donnent  des  le(,'Oiis  aux  lumveaux  arrives;  ils  (■rigent  le 
jeu  en  priniii)e  et  jurent  qu'un  homnie  est  inipardonnable  s'il  ne  laisse  pas  une 
porte  ouverte  ;"i  la  Fortune.' — About,  ^  Rome  Cvntetii2)oraine.' 

The  Quay  of  the  Ripetta,  a  graceful  construction  of  Clement  XI. 
in  1707,  equally  admired  by  artists  and  architects,  was  destroyed 
by  the  present  Government  in  1874,  to  make  way  for  an  ugly  iron 
bridge  over  the  Tiber.  The  district  on  the  farther  side,  occupied 
by  fields  and  gardens  till  1883,  has  since  been  covered  with  hideous 
stucco  barracks  in  the  worst  possible  taste. 

'  A  cette  place,  autrefois,  s'etendaient  en  terrain  plat  les  prairies  du  Chateau 
Saint-Aiige,  coupees  de  peupliers  tout  le  long  du  Xibre,  jusqu'aux  premiferes 
pentes  du  ilont  Mario,  vastes  herbages,  ainies  des  artistes,  pour  le  premier  plan 
de  riante  verdure  qu'ils  faisaiant  au  Horgo  ct  au  dome  lointain  de  Saint-I'ierre. 
Et  c'est  maintenant.  au  milieu  de  cette  plaine  boulevers6e,  lepreuse  et  blan- 
chatre,  une  villa  entifere,  une  ville  de  maisons  niassives,  colossales,  des  cubes  de 
pierres  r^gnliers,  tous  pareils,  avec  des  rues  larges,  se  coupant  ii  Tangle  droit, 
un  immense  damier  aux  cases  synietriques.  l)'un  bout  h,  I'autre,  les  memes 
fa^-ades  se  reproduisent,  on  aurait  dit  des  series  de  convents,  de  casernes, 
d'hopitaux,  dont  les  lignes  identiques  se  continuent  sans  fin.  Et  I'etonnement, 
limpression  extraordinaire  et  penible,  vient  surtout  de  la  catastrophe,  inexplic- 
able d'abord,  qui  a  immobilise  cette  ville  en  pleine  construction,  comnie  si,  par 
(|uelque  matin  maudit,  un  magicien  de  d^sastre  avait,  d'un  coup  de  baguette, 
arrete  les  travaux,  vide  les  chantiers  turbulents,  laisse  les  biltisses  telles  qu'elles 
ctaient,  ;\  cette  minute  precise,  dans  un  morne  abandon.  Tous  les  d'tats 
successifs  se  retrouvent,  depuis  les  terrassements,  les  trous  profonds  creuses 
pour  les  fondations,  restes  brants  et  que  des  herbes  folles  avaient  envahis,  jusqu' 
aux  maisons  entierement  debout,  achevees  et  habitees.  II  y'a  des  maisons  dont 
les  murs  sortent  h.  peine  du  sol ;  il  yen  a  d'autres  qui  atteignent  le  deuxieme, 
le  troisieme  etage,  avec  leurs  planchers  de  solieres  de  fer  a  jour,  leurs  fenctres 
ouvertes  sur  le  ciel ;  il  y'en  a  d'autres,  montiies  completement,  couvertes  de  leur 
toit,  telles  que  les  carcasses  livr6es  aux  batallles  des  vents,  toutes  seniblables  ti 
des  cages  vides.  Puis  c'est  des  maisons  terminees,  mais  dont  on  n'a  pas  eu  le 
temps  d'enduire  les  murs  exterieures ;  et  d'autres  qui  sont  demeurees  sans 
boiseries,  ni  aux  portes,  ui  aux  fenctres  ;  et  d'autres  qui  ont  bien  leurs  portes  et 
leurs  persiennes,  mais  clouees,  telles  que  des  couvercles  de  cerceuil,  les  apparte- 
nients  morts,  sans  une  ame  ;  et  d'autres  enfln  habitees,  quelques  unes  en  partie, 
tres-peu  totalement,  vivantes  de  la  plus  inattendue  des  populations.  Rien  ne 
pent  rendre  I'affreuse  tristesse  de  ces  chosts.'  —Zola,  'Home.' 

The  fields  which  formerly  existed  here  on  the  site  of  the  Horti 
Neronis,  and  of  which  the  long  lines  formed  such  a  beautiful  fore- 
ground to  the  Vatican'and  S.  Peter's,  were  of  historic  interest,  being 
the  Prata  Quinctia  of  Cincinnatus. 

'  L.  Quinctius  Cincinnatus,  the  only  hope  of  the  Roman  people,  lived  beyond 
the  Tiber,  opposite  the  place  where  the  Navalia  arc,  where  he  cultivated  the  four 
acres  of  ground  which  are  now  called  the  Quinctian  meadows.  There  the 
messengers  of  the  senate  found  him  leaning  on  his  spade,  either  digging  a  trench 
or  ploughing,  ))ut  certainly  occupied  in  some  field  labour.  The  salutation, 
'•May  it  be  well  with  you  and  the  republic,"  was  given  and  returned  in  the 
usual  form,  and  he  was  requested  to  jiut  on  his  toga  to  receive  a  message  from 
the  senate.  Amazed,  and  asking  if  anything  was  wrong,  he  desired  his  wife 
Kacilia  to  fetch  his  toga  from  the  cottage,  and  having  wiped  off  the  sweat  and 
dust  with  which  he  was  covered,  he  came  forward  dressed  in  his  toga  to  the 
niessetigers,  who  saluted  him  as  dictator,  and  congratulated  him.'— Li iy,  iii.  26 


The  Corso  41 

Here  there  was  an  ancient  trar/ectus,  or  ferry,  like  the  traghetti 
of  the  present  day  at  Venice. 

The  churches  on  the  left  of  the  Ripetta  are,  first,  SS.  Bocco 
e  Martino,  built  1657,  by  Antonio  de'  Rossi,  with  a  hospital  adjoin- 
ing it,  admirably  managed  under  the  Papal  rule. 

'  The  lyiiis-iii  hospital  adjoins  tlie  churcli  of  San  Rocco.  It  contains  seventy 
beds,  furnished  witli  curtains  and  screens,  so  as  to  separate  tliem  effectually. 
Females  are  admitted  witliout  f^iving  their  names,  their  country,  or  their  con- 
dition in  life ;  and  such  is  the  delicacy  observed  in  their  regard,  that  they  are  at 
liberty  to  wear  a  veil,  so  as  to  remain  unknown  even  to  their  attendants,  in 
order  to  save  the  honour  of  their  families,  and  prevent  aljortion,  suicide,  or 
infanticide.  Even  should  death  ensue,  the  deceased  remains  unknown.  The 
children  are  conveyed  to  Santo  Spirito ;  and  the  mother  who  wishes  to  retain 
her  offspring,  affixes  a  distinctive  mark,  by  which  it  may  be  recognised  and 
recovered.  To  remove  all  disquietude  from  the  minds  of  those  who  may  enter, 
the  establishment  is  exempt  from  all  civil,  criminal,  and  ecclesiastical  juris- 
diction, and  its  threshold  is  never  crossed  except  by  persons  connected  with  the 
establishment.' — Dr.  Donovan. 

Then,  opposite  the  bridge,  S.  Girolamo  degli  Schiavoni,  built  for 
Sixtus  V.  by  Fontana.  It  contains,  near  the  altar,  a  striking  figure 
of  S.  Jerome,  seated,  with  a  book  upon  his  knees. 

In  front  of  this  church  Niccol5  Montenegro,  Priore  di  Sodefoyta, 
was  attacked,  and  three  of  his  servants  killed,  by  ruffians  hired  by 
the  famous  Donna  Olimpia  Pamfili ;  and  down  this  street  legend 
declares  that  the  terrible  Olimpia  is  sometimes  borne  through  the 
night  in  a  fiery  carriage  drawn  by  four  headless  horses,  and  vanishes 
on  reaching  the  Piazza  del  Popolo. 


We  will  now  follow  the  Corso — once  Via  Lata  (Broad  Street) — which, 
in  spite  of  its  narrowness,  is  the  finest  street  in  Rome.  It  is  greatly 
to  be  regretted  that  this  street,  which  is  nearly  a  mile  long,  should 
lead  to  nothing,  instead  of  ending  at  the  steps  of  the  Capitol, 
which  would  have  produced  a  striking  effect.  In  188G  the  street  was 
further  injured  by  the  wanton  destruction  of  the  grand  tower  of 
Paul  III.,  which  rose  at  the  end  of  the  vista,  upon  the  Capitoline. 
The  Corso  follows  the  line  of  the  ancient  Via  Flaminia,  and  in  con- 
sequence was  once  spanned  by  four  triumphal  arches — of  Marcus 
Aurelius,  Domitian,  Claudius,  and  Gordian — but  all  these  have 
disappeared.  The  so-called  palaces  of  the  Corso  are  chielly  mere 
fronts — '  facciate  con  mobilia  e  quadri  dietro.'^  The  street  is 
lined  with  balconies,  which,  during  the  Carnival,  are  filled  with 
gay  groups  of  maskers  flinging  confetti.  These  balconies  are  a 
relic  of  imperial  times,  having  been  invented  at  Rome,  where  they 
were  originally  called  'Moeniana,'  from  the  tribune  Moenius,  who 
designed  them  to  accommodate  spectators  of  processions  in  the 
streets  below. 

'  The  Corso  is  a  street  a  mile  long ;  a  street  of  shops,  and  palaces,  and  private 
houses,  sometimes  opening  into  a  broad  piazza.  There  are  verandas  and 
balconies,  of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  to  almost  every  house — not  on  one  storey  alone, 
but  often  to  one  room  or  another  on  every  storey— put  there  in  general  with  so 

1  See  Koisyth. 


42  Walks  in  Borne 

little  iirder  or  i-esulurity,  that  if  year  after  year,  and  season  after  season,  it  had 
rained  balconies,  hailed  lialconies,  snowed  balconies,  blown  balconies,  they 
could  scarcely  have  come  into  existence  in  a  more  disorderly  manner.' — Dickens. 

Zola's  description  still  .applies  to  afternoons  in  the  Corso. 

'C'etait  la  promiscuitu  en  plein  air,  toiite  Kdino  entassie  dans  le  moins  de 
place  possible,  les  gens  qui  se  connuissaieiit,  (lui  se  retrouvaient  comnie  en 
rintimitu  d'nn  salon,  les  gens  cjui  se  ne  parlaieiit  pas,  des  niondcs  les  plus 
adverses,  niais  qui  se  coudoyaient,  qui  se  fouillaient  du  regard,  jusqu'a  I'ame. 
Justement,  le  plaisir  t-tait  hi,  dans  I'etroitesse  de  la  voie,  dans  ce  coudoienient 
force,  <|ui  iniiiRltait  aux  rciicnntics  attundues,  lescuriosites  satisfaites,  I'etalage 
des  vaiiitrs  Iriiicuscs,  ks  pruvisioiis  des  coiiiint'rages  sans  tin.  La  villc  entit're 
s'y  revojait  cliaciue  jour,  s'ttalait,  sepiait,  se  donuait  son  spectacle  ;\  elle-meme, 
brulce  (i'un  tel  besoin,  indispensable  ["i  la  longue,  de  se  voir  ainsi,  qu'un  homme 
blen  lie  i|ui  maiKniait  le  Corso,  etait  un  honniie  depayse,  sans  journau.x.' 

On  the  left  of  the  Corso  is  the  Augustine  church  of  Gesii  e  Maria, 
with  a  fa9ade  by  Hinaldi.  Almost  opposite  is  the  church  of 
S.  Giacomo  degli  Incurabili,  by  Carlo  Madcrno.  It  is  attached  to 
a  sursrical  hospital  for  850  j.atients.  lu  the  adjoining  Strada  S. 
Giacomo  was  the  studio  of  Canova,  recognisable  by  fragments  of 
bas-reliefs  engrafted  in  its  walls. 

Three  streets  beyond  this  (on  right)  is  the  Via  de'  Pontefici  (so 
called  from  a  series  of  papal  portraits,  now  destroyed,  which  for- 
merly existed  on  the  walls  of  one  of  its  houses),  where  (No.  57  R.) 
is  the  entrance  to  the  remains  of  the  Mausoleum  of  Augustus 
(Teatro  Correa). 

'  Hard  by  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  in  the  grassy  meadows  where  the  Roman 
youths  met  in  athletic  and  martial  exercises,  there  rose  a  lofty  marble  tower  with 
three  retiring  stages,  each  of  which  had  its  terrace  covered  with  earth  and 
planted  with  cypresses.  These  stages  were  pierced  with  numerous  chambers, 
destined  to  receive,  row  within  row,  and  storey  upon  storey,  the  remains  of  every 
member  of  the  Imperial  family,  with  many  thousands  of  their  slaves  and  freed- 
men.  In  the  centre  of  that  massive  mound  the  great  founder  of  tlie  empire  was 
to  sleep  his  last  sleep,  while  his  statue  was  ordained  to  rise  conspicuous  on  its 
simimit,  and  satiate  its  everlasting  gaze  with  the  view  of  his  beloved  city.'— 
Merivale. 

The  first  funeral  here  was  that  of  Marcellus,  son  of  Octavia,  the 
sister  of  Augustus,  and  first  husband  of  his  daughter  Julia  ;  he  died 
of  malaria  at  Baiae,  B.C.  23. 

'Quantos  ille  viruni  niagnam  Mavortis  ad  urbeni 
Campus  agt't  gcniitus  1  vel  quae,  Tiherine,  videbis 
Funera,  cum  tuiiiuhun  praeterlabere  recentem  I 
Xec  puer  lliaci  quisquam  de  gente  Latinos 
In  tantum  spe  toilet  avos ;  nee  Romula  quondam 
Ullo  se  tantum  tellus  jactabit  alumno. 
Heu  pietas,  lieu  prisca  fides,  invictaque  bello 
Bextera  '.  noii  illi  se  quisquam  inipune  tulisset 
Obvius  armato,  seu  quuin  pedes  iret  in  hostem, 
Sen  spumantis  equi  foderet  calcaribus  armos. 
Heu,  miserande  puer  !  si  qua  fata  aspera  rumpas, 
Tu  Marcellus  eris.' 

—Aeneid,  vi.  873. 

The  next  member  of  the  family  buried  here  was  Agrippa,  the 
second  husband  of  Julia,  ob.  12  B.C.  Then  came  Octavia,  sister 
of  the  Emperor  and  widow  of  Antony,  honoured  by  a  public  funeral, 
at  which  orations  were  delivered  by  Augustus  himself,  and  Drusus, 


Mausoleum  of  Augustus  43 

son  of  the  Empress  Livia.  Her  body  was  carried  to  the  tomb  by 
Tiberius  (afterwards  emperor)  and  Drusus,  the  two  sons  of  the 
empress.  Drusus  (9  B.C.)  died  in  a  German  campaign  by  a  fall 
from  his  horse,  and  was  brought  back  hither  for  interment.  In 
A.D.  14  the  great  Augustus  died  at  Nola,  and  his  body  was  burnt 
here  on  a  funeral  pile  so  gigantic,  that  the  widowed  Livia,  dishevelled 
and  ungirt,  with  bare  feet,  attended  by  the  principal  Roman  senators, 
had  to  watch  it  for  five  days  and  nights,  before  it  cooled  sufficiently 
for  them  to  collect  the  ashes  of  the  emperor.  At  the  moment  of  its 
being  lighted  an  eagle  was  let  loose  from  the  summit  of  the  pyre, 
under  which  form  a  senator  named  Numerius  Atticus  was  induced, 
by  a  gift  from  Livia  equivalent  to  250.000  francs,  to  swear  that  he  saw 
the  spirit  of  Augustus  fly  away  to  heaven.  Then  came  Germanicus, 
son  of  the  first  Drusus,  and  nephew  of  Tiberius,  ob.  A.D.  19,  at 
Antioch,  where  he  was  believed  to  have  been  poisoned  by  Piso  and 
his  wife  Plancina.  Then,  in  A.D.  23,  Drusus,  son  of  Tiberius,  poisoned 
by  his  wife  Livilla,  and  her  lover  Sejanus  :  then  the  Empress  Livia, 
who  died  A.D.  29,  at  the  age  of  86.  Agrippina,  widow  of  Germanicus 
(ob.  A.D.  33),  starved  to  death,  and  her  two  sons,  Nero  and  Drusus, 
also  murdered  by  Tiberius,  were  long  excluded  from  the  family 
sepulchre,  but  were  eventually  brought  hither  by  the  youngest 
brother,  Caius,  afterwards  the  Emperor  Caligula.  Tiberius,  who 
died  A.D.  37,  at  the  villa  of  Lucullus  at  Misenum,  was  brought 
here  for  burial.  The  ashes  of  Caligula,  murdered  A.D.  41,  and 
first  buried  in  the  Horti  Lamiani  on  the  Esquiline,  were  trans- 
ferred here  by  his  sisters.  In  his  reign  Antonia,  the  widow  of 
Drusus,  and  mother  of  Germanicus,  had  died,  and  her  ashes 
were  laid  up  here.  The  Emperor  Claudius,  A.D.  54,  murdered 
by  Agrippina ;  his  son,  Britannicus,  A.D.  55,  murdered  by  Nero; 
and  the  Emperor  Nerva,  A.D.  98,  were  the  latest  inmates  of  the 
mausoleum. 

The  last  cremation  which  occurred  here  was  long  after  the 
mausoleum  had  fallen  into  ruin,  when  the  body  of  the  tribune 
Rienzi,  after  having  hung  for  two  days  at  S.  Marcello,  was  ordered 
to  be  burnt  here  by  Jugurta  and  Sciaretta,  and  was  consumed  by 
a  vast  multitude  of  Jews  (out  of  flattery  to  the  Colonna,  their  neigh- 
bours at  the  Ghetto),  'in  a  fire  of  dry  thistles,  till  it  was  reduced  to 
ashes,  and  no  fibre  of  it  remained.' 

'  In  the  midst  of  the  sepultures  is  a  recess  where  Octavian  was  wont  to  sit ;  and 
tlie  priests  were  there  doinf;  their  ceremonies.  And  from  every  kingdom  of  the 
whole  world  he  commanded  that  there  should  be  brought  one  basket  full  of  earth, 
the  wliich  to  put  upon  the  temple,  to  ))e  a  remembrance  unto  all  nations  coming 
to  Home.' — Mirabilia  Urbis  Romae  XIIc. 

There  is  nothing  now  remaining  to  testify  to  the  former  magni- 
ficence of  this  building.  The  mausoleum,  which  had  long  been 
used  as  a  fortress  by  the  Colonnas,  was  destroyed  in  1167,  when 
they  were  accused  of  high  treason  in  the  time  of  Alexander  III. 
The  area  is  now  employed  as  a  theatre.  It  was  ravaged  by  the  Goths 
under  Alaric,  used  as  a  fortress  by  the  Colonna  family,  and  de- 
stroyed after  the  defeat  of  the  Colonnas  by  the  Count  of  Tusculum 


44  Walks  in  Rome 

and  his  German  allies  in  11G7.  The  obelisks  which  stood  at  its 
entrance  are  now  opposite  the  Quirinal  Palace  and  S.  Maria 
Magfriore  ;  the  urn  of  Agrippina  is  at  the  Capitol,  six  urns  are  at 
the  Vatican,  the  others  have  been  destroyed.  In  the  early  times 
of  Christianity  it  was  crowned  by  the  shrine  and  statue  of  S. 
Angelo  de  Augusta,  destroyed  by  the  people  in  i:i7S,  and  after- 
wards twice  replaced.  Among  its  massive  cells  a  poor  washer- 
woman, known  as  'Sister  Kose,'  established  in  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  a  kind  of  hospital  for  aged  women  (several  of 
them  centenarians),  whom  she  supported  entirely  by  her  own  exer- 
tions, having  originally  begun  by  taking  care  of  one  old  woman, 
and  gradually  adding  another  and  another.  The  English  Church 
service  was  first  performed  in  Rome  in  the  Palazzo  Correa,  arljoin- 
ing  this  building.  The  exterior  of  the  mausoleum  is  best  seen 
from  the  courtyard  of  the  Palazzo  Valdambrini,  No.  102  in  the  Via 
Ripetta. 

Opposite  the  Via  de'  Pontefici,  the  Via  Vittoria  leaves  the  Corso. 
To  the  Ursuhne  convent  in  this  street  (founded  by  Camillo  Borghese 
in  the  seventeenth  century)  Madame  Victoire  and  Madame  Adelaide 
('  tantes  du  Roi')  fled  in  the  beginning  of  the  great  French  revolu- 
tion. Here  also  Louisa,  Duchess  of  Albany,  was  shut  up  by  her 
husband,  Charles  Edward  Stuart,  and  used  to  talk  to  Alfieri  through 
the  grille. 

The  Church  of  S.  Carlo  in  Corso  (on  right)  is  the  national  church 
of  the  Lombards.  It  is  a  handsome  building  with  a  fine  dome, 
but  the  ancient  church  of  S.  Ambrogio,  with  precious  frescoes  by 
Pierino  del  Vaga,  was  destroyed  to  build  it.  The  interior  was  com- 
menced by  Onorio  Longhi  in  "l()14,  and  finished  by  Piclro  da  Cortoiia. 
It  contains  no  objects  of  interest,  unless  a  picture  of  the  Apothe- 
osis of  S.  Carlo  Borromeo  (the  patron  of  the  church),  over  the  high 
altar,  by  Carlo  Maratta,  can  be  called  so.  The  heart  of  the  saint  is 
preserved  under  the  altar. 

Just  beyond  this,  on  the  left,  the  Via  Condotti  (named  from  the 
aqueduct  of  Trevi,  which  runs  beneath  it) — almost  lined  with 
jewellers'  .shops — branches  off  to  the  Piazza  di  Spagna.  The  Trinitk 
ide'  Monti  is  seen  beyond  it.  The  opposite  street.  Via  Fontanella, 
leads  to  S.  Peter's,  and  in  five  minutes  to  the  magnificent — 

Palazzo  Borghese,  begun  in  15!io  by  Cardinal  Deza,  from  designs 
of  Martino  Lunghi,  and  finished  by  Paul  V.  (Camillo  Borghese, 
1605-21),  from  those  of  Flaminio  Ponzio.  The  cloistered  courtyard 
has  a  beautiful  open  arcade.  The  Borghese  resided  here  (and  at 
their  numerous  villas)  with  almost  regal  magnificence  under  the 
Papal  rule.  But  since  the  change  of  government  the  family  has 
been  totally  ruined  by  building  speculations  of  the  present  Prince, 
Don  Paolo,  who  had  inherited  a  fortune  of  £40,000  a  year  from  his 
father  only  five  years  before.  '  Paolo  contruxit,  Paolo  destruxit '  is 
a  pasquinade.  The  greater  part  of  the  pictures  which  formed  the 
famous  'Borghese  Gallery  '  are  now  to  be  seen  at  Villa  Borghese. 
The  splendid  portrait  of  Caesar  Borgia  by  Bronzino  (long  attributed 
to  Raffaelle)  is  now  in  England.     The  rooms  formerly  occupied  by 


Palazzo  Borghese  45 

the  gallerj'  were  ill-lighted  and  unsuitable.  One  of  them  is  richly 
adorned  with  mirrors,  painted  with  Cupids  by  Girofiri  and  wreaths 
of  flowers  by  Mario  de'  Fiori.  They  end  \n\  the  picturesque  corner 
of  the  palace  called  '  Gimbalo  di  Borghese.' 

'  III  the  reign  of  Paul  IV.  the  Borghese  became  the  wealthiest  and  most  power- 
ful family  in  Home.  In  the  year  1612,  the  church  benefices  already  conferred 
upon  Cardinal  Scipioue  Borghese  were  computed  to  secure  him  an  income  of 
15{(,00U  scudi.  The  temporal  offices  were  bestowed  on  Marc-Antonio  Borghese, 
on  whom  the  Pope  also  conferred  the  principality  of  Suhnona  in  Naples,  besides 
giving  him  rich  palaces  in  Kome  and  the  most  beautiful  vilhis  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. He  loaded  his  nephews  with  i^resents ;  we  have  a  list  of  them  through 
his  whole  reign  down  to  the  year  1020.  They  are  sometimes  jewels  or  vessels  of 
silver,  or  magnificent  furniture,  which  were  taken  directly  from  the  stores  of  the 
palace  and  sent  to  the  nephews ;  at  other  times  carriages,  rich  arms,  as  nuiskets 
and  falconets,  were  presented  to  them ;  but  the  principal  thing  was  the  round 
sum  of  hard  money.  These  accounts  make  it  appear  that,  to  the  year  1620,  they 
had  received  in  ready  money  680,627  scudi  31  baj  ;  in  luoghi  di  monte,  24,600 
scudi,  according  to  their  nominal  values  ;  in  places,  computing  them  at  the  sum 
their  sale  would  have  lirought  to  the  treasury,  268,176  scudi ;  all  which  amounted, 
as  iu  the  case  of  the  Aldobrandini,  to  nearly  a  million. 

'  Nor  did  the  Borghese  neglect  to  invest  their  wealth  in  real  property.  They 
acquired  eighty  estates  in  the  Campagna  of  Rome ;  the  Roman  nobles  suffering 
themselves  to  be  tempted  into  the  sale  of  their  ancient  hereditary  domains  by 
the  large  prices  paid  them,  and  by  the  high  rate  of  interest  borne  by  the  luoghi 
di  monte,  wliich  they  purchased  with  the  money  thus  acquired.  In  many  other 
parts  of  the  Ecclesiastical  States,  the  Borghese  also  seated  themselves,  the  Pope 
facilitating  their  doing  so  by  the  grant  of  peculiar  privileges.  In  some  places, 
for  example,  they  received  the  right  of  restoring  exiles  ;  in  others,  that  of 
holding  a  market,  or  certain  exemptions  were  granted  to  those  wlio  became 
their  vassals.  They  were  freed  from  various  imposts,  and  even  obtained  a  bull, 
by  virtue  of  which  their  possessions  were  never  to  be  confiscated.' — Ranke,  '  Hist. 
of  the  Popes. ' 

'Si  Ton  peut  reprocher  k  Paul,  avec  Muratori,  ses  liberalittSs envers  ses  neveux, 
envers  le  Cardinal  Scipion,  envers  le  due  de  Sulmoue,  il  est  juste  d'ajouter  que  la 
plupart  des  membres  de  cette  noble  famille  rivaliserent  avec  le  pape  de  magni- 
ficence et  de  g6nerosit6.  Or,  chaque  annee,  Paul  V.  distribuait  un  million  d'ecus 
d'or  aux  pelerins  pauvres  et  un  million  et  demi  aux  autres  n^cessiteux.  C'est 
a  lui  que  remonte  la  fondation  de  la  banque  du  Saint-Esprit,  dont  les  riches 
irameubles  servirent  d'hypotheques  aux  depots  qui  lui  furent  confies.  Mais  ce 
f  ut  surtout  dans  les  constructions  qu'il  entreprit,  que  Paul  V.  diiploya  une  royale 
magnificence.' — Gournerie. 

'  The  Palazzo  Borghese  is  an  immense  edifice  standing  round  the  four  sides  of  a 
qtuadrangle  ;  and  though  the  suite  of  rooms  comprising  the  picture-gallery  forms 
an  almost  interminable  vista,  they  occupy  only  a  part  of  the  ground  floor  of  one 
side.  We  enter  from  the  street  into  a  large  court  surroiuided  with  a  corridor, 
the  arches  of  which  support  a  second  series  of  arches  above.  The  picture-rooms 
open  from  one  into  anotlier,  and  have  many  points  of  magnificence,  being  large 
and  lofty,  with  vaulted  ceilings  and  beautiful  frescoes,  generally  of  mythological 
sulijects,  in  the  flat  central  parts  of  the  vault.  The  cornices  are  gilded ;  the 
deep  embrasures  of  the  windows  are  panelled  with  wood-work  ;  the  doorways 
are  of  polished  and  variegated  marble,  or  covered  with  a  composition  as  hard, 
and  seemingly  as  durable.  The  whole  has  a  kind  of  splendid  shalibiness  thrown 
over  it,  like  a  slight  coating  of  rust ;  the  furniture,  at  least  the  damask  chairs, 
being  a  good  deal  worn  ;  though  there  are  marble  and  mosaic  taljles  which 
may  serve  to  adorn  another  palace,  when  tliis  has  crumbled  away  with  age." — 
Ilarvthorne. 

The  Palazzetto  Borghese,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  piazza, 
originally  intended  as  a  dower-house  for  the  family,  is  now  let  in 
apartments.  It  is  this  house  which  is  described  as  the  '  Palazzo 
Clementi,'  in  Mademoiselle  Mori. 


4G  Walks  in  Rome 

At  tlie  corner  of  the  Via  Fontanella  and  the  Corso  is  the  handsome 
Palazzo  Ruspoli,  built  in  15fSG  (when  the  situation  was  almost  iu 
the  upon  lit'lds),  by  Ammanati,  for  one  of  the  Kuccellaj  family, 
on  the  site  of  the  gardens  called  Orti  Kuccellaj.  It  soon  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Caetani,  and  the  central  entrance  towards  the 
Corso  was  walled  up  where  one  of  the  Caetani  was  killed  by  one  of 
tlie  Orsini  upon  the  threshold,  and  has  never  been  used  since.  The 
palace  was  lost  by  the  Caetani  in  the  last  century,  in  part  payment 
of  a  gambling  debt,  to  the  banker  Kuspoli  of  Siena.  Vittoria,  the 
banker's  daughter,  married  a  Mariscotti  of  Bologna,  and  received 
a  regal  dowry  from  her  father  on  condition  that  her  husband  should 
take  the  name  of  Ruspoli,  and  that  her  descendants  should  never 
aspire  to  a  higher  title  than  that  of  a  marquis.  In  violation  of  this, 
her  son  Francesco  purchased  from  the  Orsini  the  fief  of  Cervetri, 
and  never  relaxed  his  efforts  till  he  was  created  a  prince.  The 
famous  Giustiniani  collection  of  sculpture  described  by  Venuti  was 
long  siiovvn  iu  this  palace.  Each  step  of  the  staircase  of  155  steps 
is  formed  of  a  solid  block  of  Parian  marble,  and  cost  80  gold  scudi 
at  the  time  it  was  built.  Beyond  this  are  the  insignificant  palaces, 
Fiano,  Verospi,  and  Teodoli.  In  the  vestibule  of  Palazzo  Fiano  are 
some  of  the  reliefs  found  on  the  site  of  the  palace  in  1554,  and 
belonging  to  the  Ara  Pacis  Augustae,  erected  13  B.C.  on  the  trium- 
phant return  of  Augustus  from  his  campaigns  in  Germany  and 
Gaul. 

'Les  palais  de  Rome,  bien  que  n'ayant  pas  un  caractfere  original  conime  ceux 
de  Florence  on  de  Venise,  n'eii  sont  pas  nioins  cependant  iin  des  traits  de  la 
ville  des  papes.  lis  n'appartiennent  ni  au  nioyen-ase,  ni  k  la  renaissance  (le 
Palais  de  Venise  seul  rappelle  les  constructions  niassives  de  Florence) ;  ils  sont 
des  modules  d'architecture  civile  moderne.  Les  Braniante,  les  Sangallo,  les 
Balthazar  Pernzzi,  ([ui  les  ont  batis,  sont  des  maTtres  qn'on  ne  se  lasse  pas 
d'etudier.  La  magnificence  de  ces  palais  reside  principalenient  dans  leur  archi- 
tecture et  dans  les  collections  artistiques  que  quelques-uns  contiennent.  Un 
certain  nonibre  sont  malheureusement  dans  nn  triste  etat  d'ahandon.  De  plus, 
al'exception  dun  tres-petit  nombre,  ils  sonte  restes  inacheves.  C'ela  ce  con^oit ; 
presque  tons  sont  le  produit  du  luxe  celibataire  des  papes  ou  des  cardinaux  ; 
tres-peu  de  ces  personnages  ont  pu  voir  la  fin  de  ce  qu'ils  avaient  commence. 
Leurs  heritiers,  pour  la  plupart,  se  souciaient  fort  peu  de  jeter  les  richesses 
qu'ils  venaient  d'acqudrir  dans  les  Edifices  de  luxe  et  de  vanite.  A  I'int^rieur,  le 
plus  souvent,  est  un  mobilier  rare,  surann6,  et  mesquin.' — A.  du  PaysA 

The  Palazzo  Bernini  (151  Corso),  on  the  left,  has,  inside  its 
entrance,  a  curious  statue  of  'Calumny'  by  Bernini,  with  an  in- 
scription relative  to  his  own  sufferings  from  slander. 

On  the  right,  the  small  Piazza  of  S.  Lorenzo  (now  a  central 
omnibus  station)  opens  out  of  the  Corso.  Here  is  the  Church  of  S. 
Lorenzo  in  Lucina,  founded  in  the  fifth  century,  but  rebuilt  in  its 
present  form  by  Paul  V.  in  1(506.  The  campanile  is  of  an  older 
date,  and  so  are  the  lions  in  the  portico. 


1  Of  the  many  one-volume  Handbooks  for  Italy  which  have  appeared,  that  of 
Du  Pays  is  the  mo.st  comprehensive,  and— as  far  as  its  very  condensed  form 
allows — much  the  most  interesting. 


S.  Lorenzo  in  Lucina  47 

'  When  the  lion,  or  other  \vil<l  beast,  appears  in  the  act  of  preying  on  a  smaller 
animal  or  on  a  man,  is  implied  the  severity  of  the  Church  towards  the  impenitent 
or  heretical  ;  but  when  in  the  a(^t  of  sporting  with  another  creature,  her  be- 
nignity towards  the  neophyte  and  the  docile.  At  the  portal  of  S.  Lorenzo  in 
Lucina,  this  idea  is  carried  out  in  the  fignre  of  a  manikin  affectionately  stroking 
the  head  of  the  terrible  creature  who  protects,  instead  of  devouring  him.' — 
Heman's  '  Christian  Art.' 

No  one  should  omit  seeing  the  grand  picture  of  Guido  Ecni,  over 
the  high  altar  of  this  church, — the  Crucifixion,  seen  against  a  wild, 
stormy  sky. 

'  I  have  known  men,  strong  men,  who  believed  neither  in  God's  existence  nor 
their  own,  sob  before  that  picture  in  some  terriljle  pain  anil  conic  away  com- 
forted.'— Kassandra  Vivaria. 

Nicholas  Poussin,  ob.  1660,  is  buried  here,  and  one  of  his  best- 
known  Arcadian  landscapes  is  reproduced  in  a  bas-relief  upon  his 
tomb,  which  was  erected  by  Chateaubriand,  with  the  epitaph — 

'  Parce  piis  lacrymis,  vivit  Pussinus  in  urna, 

Vivus  qui  dederat,  nescius  ipse  mori. 
Hie  tamen  ipse  silet ;  si  vis  audire  loQuentera, 
Mirum  est,  in  tabulis  vivit,  et  eloquitur.' 

In  '  The  King  and  the  Book  '  of  Browning,  this  church  is  the  scene 
of  Pompilia's  baptism  and  marriage.     She  is  made  to  say  : — 

— '  This  S.  Lorenzo  seems 
5Iy  own  particular  place,  I  always  say. 
I  used  to  wonder,  when  I  stood  scarce  high 
As  the  bed  here,  what  the  marble  lion  meant, 
Eating  the  figure  of  a  prostrate  man.' 

Here  the  bodies  of  her  parents  are  represented  as  being  exposed 
after  the  murder  : — 

— '  Beneath  the  piece 
Of  Master  Guido  Keni,  Christ  on  Cross, 
Second  to  nought  observable  in  Kome.' 

The  church  of  S.  Lorenzo  occupies  the  site  of  the  Horologium  or 
Solarium  of  Augustus,  of  which  remains  were  visible  here  in  the 
XV.  and  XVI.  c. 

On  the  left,  where  the  Via  della  Vite  turns  out  of  the  Corso,  an 
inscription  in  the  wall  records  the  destruction,  in  1665,  of  the 
triumphal  arch  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  which  existed  here  till  that 
time.  The  magnificence  of  this  arch  is  attested  by  the  bas-reliefs 
representing  the  history  of  the  emperor,  which  were  removed  from 
it,  and  (c.  399)  used  to  decorate  the  walls  of  S.  i\Iartina,  but  now 
are  preserved  on  the  staircase  of  the  palace  of  the  Conservators.  Two 
of  its  columns,  of  verde  antico,  adorn  the  high  altar  at  S.  Agnese 
in  Piazza  Navona  ;  others  are  in  the  Corsini  chapel  at  the  Lateran. 

'  Les  Barbares  n'en  savaient  pas  assez  et  n'avaient  pas  assez  de  patience  pour 
demolirles  monuments  romains  :  niais.  avec  les  ressources  de  la  science  moderne 
et  a  la  suite  d'une  administration  reguliere,  on  est  venu  ii  bout  de  presque  tout 
ce  que  le  temps  avait  epargne.  II  y  avait,  par  exemple,  au  commencement  du 
xvie  siecle,  quatre  arcs  de  triomphe  qui  n'existent  plus  ;  le  dernier,  celui  de  Marc- 
Aurfele,  a  ete  enleve  par  le  pape  Alexandre  VII.  On  lit  encore  dans  le  Corso 
I'inconcevable  inscription  dans  laquelle  le  pape  se  vante  d'avoir  ddbarrasse  la 
promenade  publique  de  ce  monimient,  qui,  vu  sa  date,  devait  etre  d'un  beau 
style.' — Ampere,  '  Voyage  Dantcsqiie.' 


48  Walks  in  Rome 

The  next  turn  on  the  right  leads  into  the  ViadiGiardino,  running 
parallel  with  the  Corso  for  a  short  distance.  The  Palazzo  Palom- 
bara,  at  the  corner,  was  the  Palazzaccio,  where  Hugo  Basseville, 
the  French  Secretary  of  Embassy  and  Revolutionary  propagandist, 
was  murdered,  January  13,  1793. 

A  little  farther  down  the  Corso  the  Via  delle  Convertite  leads, 
on  the  left,  to  S.  Silvestro  in  Capite,  one  of  the  three  churches  in 
Rome  dedicated  to  the  sainted  Tope  of  the  time  of  Constantine. 
This,  like  S.  Lorenzo,  has  a  line  mediaeval  campanile.  The  day  of 
S.  Sylvester's  death,  December  31  (a.d.  335),  is  kept  here  with 
great  solemnity,  and  is  celebrated  by  magnificent  musical  services. 
This  Pope  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  of  Priscilla,  whence  his  re- 
mains v.-ere  removed  to  S.  Martino  al  Monte.  The  title  '  In  Capite  ' 
is  given  to  this  church  on  account  of  the  head  of  S.  John  the  Bap- 
tist, which  it  professes  to  possess,  as  is  narrated  by  an  inscription 
engrafted  into  its  walls. 

The  convent  attached  to  this  church  was  founded  in  1318,  especi- 
ally for  noble  sisters  of  the  house  of  Colonna  who  dedicated  them- 
selves to  God.  Here  it  was  that  the  celebrated  Vittoria  Colonna, 
Marchesa  di  Pescara,  came  to  reside  in  1525,  when  widowed  in  her 
thirty-sixth  year,  and  here  she  began  to  write  her  sonnets,  a  kind 
of  '  In  Memoriam '  to  her  husband.  It  is  a  curious  proof  of  the 
value  placed  upon  her  remaining  in  the  world,  that  Pope  Clement 
VII.  was  persuaded  to  send  a  brief  to  the  abbess  and  nuns,  desir- 
ing them  to  offer  her  '  all  spiritual  and  temporal  consolations,'  but 
forbidding  them,  under  pain  of  the  greater  excommunication,  to 
permit  her  to  take  the  veil  in  her  affliction.^  The  buildings  of  this 
convent  are  now  used  as  the  Post  Office.  In  the  piazza  is  a  modern 
statue  of  Metastasio. 

At  the  end  of  this  street,  continued  under  the  name  of  Via  di 
Mercede  [No.  11  was  the  residence  of  Bernini,  and  is  also  marked 
by  a  tablet  as  the  house  where  Sir  W.  Scott  made  a  brief  stay  in 
1832],  and  behind  the  Propaganda,  is  the  Church  of  S.  Andrea  delle 
Fratte,  whose  brick  cupola  by  Borromini  is  so  picturesque  a  feature. 
The  bell-tower  beside  it  swings  when  the  bells  are  rung.  In  the 
second  chapel  on  the  right,  spoilt  by  being  raised  into  a  position 
for  which  it  was  not  intended,  is  the  beautiful  modern  tomb  of 
Mademoiselle  Falconnet,  by  Miss  Hosmer.  The  opposite  chapel  is 
remarkable  for  a  modern  miracle  (?)  annually  commemorated  here. 

'  M.  Ratisbonne,  un  juif,  appartenant  bi  une  trfes-riche  famille  d' Alsace,  qui  se 
trouvait  accidentellement  k  Kome,  se  promenant  dans  I'^glise  de  S.  Andrea  delle 
Fratte  pendant  qu'on  y  faisait  les  preparatifs  pour  las  ohseques  de  M.  de  la  Ker- 
ronays,  s'y  est  converti  subitement.  II  se  trouvait  debout  en  face  dune  chapelle 
d6di6e  a  I'ange  gardien,  a  quelques  pas,  lorsque  tout-a-coup  il  a  eu  une  apparition 
lumineuse  de  la  .Sainte  Yierge  qui  lui  a  fait  signe  d'aller  vers  cette  chapelle. 
Une  force  irresistible  ly  a  entrain6, 11  y  est  tonil)6  k  genoux,  et  il  a  ete  k  I'instant 
Chretien.  Sa  premiere  parole  k  celui  qui  I'avait  accompagne  a  et6,  en  relevant 
son  visage  inonde  de  larmes  :  "  11  faut  que  ce  monsieur  ait  beaucoup  pri6  pour 
moi."  ' — Jiecit  dune  Sceur. 

1  See  Trollope's  Life  of  Vittoria  Colonna. 


Palazzo  Chigi  49 

'  '  Era  uii  istante  ch'  io  mi  stava  in  chiesa  allora  die  di  colpo  mi  seiitii  preso  da 
inespiimibile  conturbamento.  Alzai  gli  occlii ;  tutto  1'  etlitlzio  s'  era  diluKuato  a' 
miei  sguaidi ;  sola  una  tappella  aveva  come  in  se  raccolta  tiitta  la  luce,  e  di  mezzo 
di  raggianti  splendori  s'  e  mostrata  diiitta  suU'  altare,  grande  sfolgoreggiante, 
plena  di  maestii  e  di  dolcezza,  la  V'ergine  Maria.  Una  forza  irresistibile  m'  ha 
sospiiito  verso  di  lei.  La  Vergine  m'  ha  fatto  della  mano  segno  d'  inginocchiarmi ; 
pareva  volermi  dire,  "  Bene  !  "  Ella  non  mi  ha  parlato,  ma  io  ho  inteso  tutto.'— 
Recital  of  Alfonso  Matisbonne^ 

M.  de  la  Ferronays,  whose  character  is  now  so  well  known  from 
the  beautiful  family  memoirs  of  Mrs.  Augustus  Craven,  is  buried 
beneath  the  altar  where  this  vision  occurred.  In  the  third  chapel 
on  the  left  is  the  tomb  of  Angelica  Kauffmann  ;  in  the  right  aisle 
that  of  the  Prussian  artist,  Schadow.  In  front  of  the  choir  were, 
till  recently,  two  angels  by  Bernini,  who  intended  them  for  the 
bridge  of  S.  Angelo,  where  the  municipality  placed  them  in  1896. 

Returning  to  the  Corso,  the  Via  S.  Claudio  (left)  leads  to  the 
pretty  little  church  of  that  name,  adjoining  the  only  remaining 
portion  of  the  Palazzo  Parisani.  Beyond,  facing  an  addition  to  the 
Piazza  Colonna,  is  the  Church  of  S.  Maria  in  Via.  A  little  behind 
S.  Claudio  the  Via  del  Nazzareno  leads  to  the  Via  Tritone.  Here 
some  arches  of  the  Aqua  Vergine  may  be  seen,  following  the  line  of 
an  old  Roman  street.  An  iron  gate  has  recently  been  placed  here, 
and  the  old  gate,  surmounted  by  the  arms  of  Sixtus  IV.,  pulled 
down.  This  is  especially  to  be  regretted,  as  the  fact  of  Sixtus  IV. 
having  restored  the  Arco  di  Trevi  close  to  this  is  mentioned  in  the 
inscription  on  his  famous  portrait  in  the  Vatican  by  Melozzo  da 
Forli.  The  arms  of  Pope  Sixtus  are  to  be  seen  over  a  picturesque 
little  doorway  on  the  other  side  of  the  street. 

The  recent  and  meaningless  enlargement  of  the  Piazza  has 
destroyed  the  handsome  Palazzo  Piombino,  on  the  line  of  the 
Corso,  which  occupied  the  site  of  the  Portions  Vipsaniae,  burnt 
in  A.D.  80. 

At  the  corner  of  the  Piazza  Colonna  is  the  Palazzo  Chigi,  begun 
in  1526  by  Giacomo  della  Porta,  and  finished  by  Carlo  Maderno. 
It  contains  several  good  pictures,  but  is  seldom  shown. '■^  The 
library — Biblioteca  Chisiana — is  open  on  Thursdays  from  10  to  12. 

The  most  remarkable  members  of  the  great  family  of  Chigi  have 
been  the  famous  banker  Agostino  Chigi,  who  lived  so  sumptuously 
at  the  Farnesina,  and  Fabio  Chigi,  who  mounted  the  papal  throne 
as  Alexander  VII.,  and  who  long  refused  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  the  aggrandisement  of  his  family,  saying,  that  the  poor  were 
the  only  relations  he  would  acknowledge,  and,  like  Christ,  he  did 
not  wish  for  any  nearer  ones.  To  keep  himself  in  mind  of  the 
shortness  of  earthly  grandeur,  this  Pope  always  kept  a  coffin  in 
his  room,  and  drank  out  of  a  cup  shaped  like  a  skull. 


1  See  '(In  FigluoV  di  Maria,  ossia  un  Nuovo  nostra  Fratello,'  edited  by  the 
Baron  di  Bussiere.    1842. 

2  It  is  more  worth  while  to  visit  the  Palazzo  Chigi  at  Lariccia,  near  Albano, 
which  retains  its  stamped  leather  hangings  and  much  of  its  old  furniture.  Here 
may  be  seen,  assembled  iu  one  ro(im,  the  portraits  of  the  twelve  nieces  of 
Alexander  VII.,  who  were  so  enchanted  when  their  uncle  was  made  Pope,  that 
they  all  took  the  veil  immediately  to  please  him. 

VOL.  1.  B 


50  Walks  in  Rome 

One  of  the  ridiculous  plans  of  the  municipality  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  Roman  grandeur  has  been  the  erection  of  a  glass-gallery  on 
the  site  of  the  Palazzo  I'iombino,  pulled  down  for  the  purpose,  in 
imitation  of  that  at  Milan,  but,  fortunately,  funds  have  hitherto 
been  wanting. 

In  the  centre  of  the  piazza  is  placed  the  fine  Column,  which  was 
found  on  the  Monte  Citorio  in  1709,  having  been  originally  erected 
by  the  senate  and  people  a.d.  174,  to  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius 
Antoninus  (adopted  son  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  husband  of  his 
niece  Annia  Faustina,  father  of  the  Emperor  Commodus).  It  is 
surrounded  by  bas-reliefs,  representing  the  conquest  of  the  Marco- 
manni.  One  of  these  has  long  been  an  especial  object  of  interest, 
from  being  supposed  to  represent  a  divinity  (Jupiter  ?)  sending  rain 
to  the  troops,  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  a  Christian  legion  from 
Mitylene.  Eusebius  gives  the  story,  stating  that  the  piety  of  these 
Christians  induced  the  emperor  to  ask  their  prayers  in  his  necessity, 
and  a  letter  in  Justin  Martyr  (of  which  the  authenticity  is  much 
doubted),  in  which  Aurelius  allows  the  fact,  is  produced  in  proof. 
The  statue  of  S.  Paul  on  the  top  of  the  column  was  erected  by 
Sixtus  V.  ;  the  pedestal  also  is  modern. 

Behind  the  Piazza  Colonna  is  the  Piazza  Monte  Citorio,  containing 
an  Obelisk  which  was  discovered  in  broken  fragments  near  the 
church  of  S.  Lorenzo  in  Lucina.  Pius  VI.  was  incited  to  raise  it 
here  by  the  '  supplica  degli  obelischi  giacenti '  of  the  Ahh6  Can- 
cellieri.  So  it  was  repaired  with  pieces  of  the  column  of  Antoninus 
Pius,  the  pedestal  of  which  may  still  be  seen  in  the  Vatican  Gardens. 
Its  hieroglyphics  are  very  perfect  and  valuable,  and  show  that  it 
was  erected  more  than  GOO  years  before  Christ  in  honour  of  Psam- 
meticus  I.  It  was  brought  from  Heliopolis  by  Augustus,  and  erected 
by  him  in  the  Campus  Martius,  where  it  received  the  name  of 
Obeliscus  Solaris,  from  being  made  to  act  as  a  sundial. 

'Ei,  qui  est  in  campo,  divus  Augustus  addidit  mirabilem  usuni,  ad  deprehen- 
dendas  solis  umbras,  dierumciue  ac  uoctium  ita  magnitudines,  strato  lapide  ad 
magnitudinem  obelisci,  cui  par  fleret  umbra,  brumae  confectae  die,  sexta  hora ; 
pairiatimque  per  regulas  (quae  sunt  ex  aere  inclusae)  singulis  diebus  decresceret, 
ac  rursus  augesceret :  digna  cognitu  res  et  ingenio  foecundo.  Manilius  mathe- 
maticus  apici  auratam  pilam  addidit,  cujus  umbra  vertice  colligeretur  in  se 
ipsa,  alias  enormiter  jaculante  apice,  ratione  (ut  ferunt)  a  capita  liominis 
intellecta.  Haec  observatio  triginta  jam  lerh  annis  non  congruit,  sive  solis 
ipsius  dissono  cursu,  et  coeli  aliqiia  ratione  mutato,  sive  universa  tellure  a 
centre  sue  aliquid  emota,  ut  deprehendi  et  in  aliis  locis  accipio :  sive  urbis 
tremoribus,  Ibi  tantiuu  giiomone  intorto,  sive  inundationibus  Tiberis  sedimento 
molis  facto:  quanquani  ad  altitudinem  impositi  oneris  in  terrani  quoque  dicantur 
acta  fundamenta.' — Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.,  lib.  xxxvi.  15. 

The  Palace  of  the  Monte  Citorio  (designed  by  Bernini)  has  been 
used,  since  the  united  kingdom  of  Italy,  as  the  Camera  del  Deputati.' 
The  base  of  the  pillar  of  Antoninus  Pius,  now  in  the  Vatican  Gardens, 
was  found  near  this  in  the  garden  of  the  Casa  della  Missione.  The 
Monte  Citorio  conceals  the  site  of  the  Temple  of  Marcus  Aurelius, 

1  An  order  to  visit  the  Camera  dei  Deputati  may  be  obtained  from  any  member. 


The  Temple  of  Neptune  51 

in  front  of  which  the  column  stood  in  a  forum  something  like  that 
^f  Trajan. 

Proceeding  up  the  Corso,  the  Via  di  Pietra  (right)  leads  into  the 
small  Piazza  di  Pietra,  one  side  of  which  is  occupied  by  the  eleven 
remaining  columns,  sometimes  called  the  Temple  of  Neptune,  and 
sometimes  that  of  Hadrian,  built  up  by  Innocent  XII.  into  the 
walls  of  a  building  long  used  as  the  Custom-house.  Tlie  pillars 
are  of  Marmor  Lunense,  from  Luna — the  modern  Carrara.  A  tiny 
figure  of  Christ  on  the  cross  on  the  llutings  of  the  fourth  column 
on  the  left,  prove  that,  like  almost  all  other  pagan  buildings,  this 
temple  was  converted  to  Christian  purposes.  It  is  worth  while  to 
enter  the  courtyard  in  order  to  look  back  and  observe  the  immense 
masses  of  stone  above  the  entrance,  part  of  the  ancient  temple, 
which  are  here  uncovered. 

'  The  fifteen  provinces  and  fourteen  trophies  belonging  to  the  north  side  of  the 
temple  have  all  been  accounted  for.  .  .  .  Three  provinces  and  two  trophies  have 
migrated  to  Naples  with  the  rest  of  the  Farnese  marl)les,  one  has  been  left 
behind  in  the  portico  of  the  Farnese  palace,  five  provinces  and  four  trophies 
are  in  the  Palazzo  dei  Conservatori,  two  are  in  the  Palazzo  Odescalchi,  one  in 
the  Palazzo  Altieri,  two  pieces  of  the  entablature  are  used  as  a  rustic  seat  in  the 
(xiardino  delle  Tre  Pile  on  the  Capitol,  and  another  has  been  used  in  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Arch  of  Constantine.'— initcMrti". 

Near  the  Piazza  de  Pietra  the  foundations  of  an  early  mediaeval 
church,  S.  Stefano  del  Trullo,  were  found  in  1878,  the  whole 
church  appearing  to  have  been  built  with  material  plundered 
from  the  Temple  of  Neptune  and  the  Arch  of  Claudius  in  the 
Piazza  Sciarra. 

Close  to  this,  behind  the  Palazzo  Cini,  in  the  Piazza  Orfanelli,  is 
the  Teatro  Capranica,  occupying  part  of  a  palace  of  c.  1350,  with 
gothic  windows.  The  opposite  church,  S.  Maria  in  Aquiro,  recalls 
by  its  name  the  column  of  the  Equiria,  celebrated  in  ancient  annals 
as  the  place  where  certain  games  and  horse-races,  instituted  by 
Romulus,  were  celebrated.  Ovid  describes  them  in  his  Fasti.  The 
church  was  founded  c.  400,  but  was  rebuilt  under  Francesco  da 
Volterra  in  1590.  S.  Maria  in  Aquiro  was  sometimes  called  'Ad 
Arcum  Pacis,'  from  a  memorial  arch,  to  which  the  legend  of  the 
justice  of  Trajan  was  transferred  from  the  Forum  of  Trajan,  pro- 
bably on  account  of  a  sculpture  existing  here,  and  representing  a 
suppliant  nation  at  the  feet  of  an  emperor,  which  was  mistaken  for 
the  widow  of  the  legend. 

'  In  this  place,  upon  a  time  when  the  emperor  was  ready  in  his  chariot  to  go 
forth  to  war,  a  poor  widow  fell  at  his  feet,  weeping  and  crying,  "0  my  lord, 
before  thou  goest,  let  me  have  justice."  And  he  promised  her  that  on  his  return 
he  would  do  her  full  right;  but  she  said,  " Peradventure  thou  shalt  die  first." 
This  considering,  the  emperor  leapt  from  his  chariot,  and  held  his  consistory  on 
the  spot.  And  the  woman  said,  "I  had  one  only  son,  and  a  young  man  hath 
slain  him."  Upon  this  saying  the  emperor  gave  sentence.  "  The  murderer,"  said 
he,  "  shall  die,  he  shall  not  live."  "  Thy  son,  then,"  said  she,  '•  shall  die,  for  it 
is  he  that,  playing  with  my  son,  hath  slain  him."  But  when  he  was  led  to  death, 
the  woman  sighed  aloud,  and  said,  "Let  the  young  man  that  is  to  die  be  given 
unto  me  in  the  stead  of  my  son ;  so  shall  I  be  recompensed,  else  I  shall  never 


52  Walks  in  Rome 

confess  that  1  have  had  full  right."    This  therefore  was  done,  and  the  woman 
departed  with  rich  gifts  from  the  emperor.'—'  Mirabilia  Orbis  Rmnae,'  Eng.  Vers.^ 
of  F.  M.  Nichols. 

A  small  increa.«e  of  width  in  the  Cor.so  i.s  now  dignified  by  the 
name  of  the  Piazza  Sciarra.  The  street  which  turns  off  hence  (Via 
delle  Muratte,  on  the  left)  lead.s  to  the  Fountain  of  Trevi,  erected 
in  173"!  by  Niccolo  Salvi  for  Clement  XII.  The  statue  of  Neptune 
is  by  Pietro  Bracci. 

'  The  fountain  of  Trevi  draws  its  precious  water  from  a  source  far  heyond  the 
walls,  whence  it  Ikiws  hitherward  throtigh  old  subterranean  aqueducts,  and 
sparkles  forth  as  pure  as  the  virgin  who  first  led  Agrippa  to  its  well-springs  by 
her  father's  door.  In  the  design  of  the  fountain,  some  sculjjtor  of  Bernini's 
school  has  gone  absolutely  mad,  in  marble.  It  is  a  great  palace-front,  with 
niches  and  many  bas-reliefs,  out  of  which  looks  Agrippa's  legendary  virgin,  and 
several  of  the  allegoric  sisterhood  :  while  at  the  base  appears  Jieptune  with  his 
floundering  steeds  and  tritons  blowing  their  horns  about  him,  and  twenty  other 
artificial  fantasies,  which  the  calm  moonlight  soothes  into  better  taste  than  is 
native  to  them.  And,  after  ail,  it  is  as  magnificent  a  piece  of  work  as  ever 
human  skill  contrived.  At  the  foot  of  the  palatial  far^ade  is  strewn,  with  care- 
ful art  and  ordered  regularity,  a  broad  and  broken  heap  of  massive  rock,  looking 
as  if  it  may  have  lain  there  since  the  deluge.  Over  a  central  precipice  falls  the 
water,  in  a  semicircular  cascade  ;  and  from  a  hundred  crevices,  on  all  sides, 
snowy  jets  gush  up,  and  streams  spout  out  of  the  mouths  and  nostrils  of  stone 
monsters,  and  fall  in  glistening  drops  ;  while  other  rivulets,  that  have  run  wild, 
come  leaping  from  one  rude  step  to  another,  over  stones  that  are  mossy,  shining, 
and  green  with  sedge,  because,  in  a  century  of  their  wild  play,  Nature  has 
adopted  the  fountain  of  Trevi,  with  all  its  elaborate  devices,  for  her  own. 
Finally,  the  water,  tumbling,  sparkling,  and  dashing,  with  joyous  haste  and 
never-ceasing  murmur,  pours  itself  into  a  great  marljle  Ijasin  ami  reservoir,  and 
fills  it  with  a  quivering  tide  ;  on  which  is  seen,  continually,  a  snowy  semicircle 
of  momentary  foam  from  the  principal  cascade,  as  well  as  a  multitude  of  snow- 
points  from  smaller  jets.  The  liasin  occupies  the  whole  breadth  of  the  piazza, 
whence  flights  of  steps  descend  to  its  border.  A  boat  might  float  and  make 
mimic  voyages  on  this  artificial  lake.' 

'  In  the  daytime  there  is  hardly  a  livelier  scene  in  Rome  than  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  fountain  of  Trevi ;  for  the  piazza  is  then  filled  with  stalls  of  veget- 
able and  fruit  dealers,  chestnut-roasters,  cigar-vendors,  and  other  people  whose 
petty  and  wandering  traffic  is  transacted  in  the  open  air.  It  is  likewise 
thronged  with  idlers,  lounging  over  the  iron  railing,  and  with  furestieri,  who 
come  hither  to  see  the  famous  fountain.  Here,  also,  are  men  with  buckets, 
urchins  with  cans,  and  maidens  (a  picture  as  old  as  the  patriarchal  times) 
bearing  their  pitchers  upon  tlieir  beads.  J*'or  the  water  of  Trevi  is  in  request, 
far  and  wide,  as  the  most  refreshing  draught  for  feverish  lips,  the  pleasantest 
to  mingle  with  wine,  and  the  wholesomest  to  drink,  in  its  native  purity,  that 
can  anywhere  be  found.  But,  at  midnight,  the  piazza  is  a  solitude  ;  and  it  is  a 
delight  to  behold  this  untameable  water,  sporting  by  itself  in  the  moonshine 
and  compelling  all  the  elaborate  trivialities  of  art  to  assume  a  natural  aspect, 
in  accordance  with  its  own  powerful  simplicity.  Tradition  goes,  that  a  parting 
draught  at  the  fountain  of  'I'revi  ensures  a  traveller's  return  to  Rome,  whatever 
obstacles  and  improbabilities  may  seem  to  beset  him.'— Hawthorne. 

'  Le  bas-relief,  plac6  au-dessus  de  cette  fontaine,  represente  la  jeune  fllle  in- 
diquant  la  source  priJcieuse,  corame  dans  I'antiquitc  une  peinture  reprdsentait 
le  meme  evenement  dans  une  chapelle  construit  au  lieu  ou  il  s'tStait  pass6. ' — 
Amjiere,  Emp.  i.  2C4. 

In  this  piazza  is  the  handsome  front  of  S.  Maria  in  Tre'via, 
formerly  S.  Maria  in  Fornica,  erected  by  Cardinal  Mazarin,  on  the 


1  The  fountain  has  been  deprived  of  this  magnificent  luxuriance  of  water  since 
the  fall  of  the  Papacy  and  destruction  of  the  beauty  of  Rome. 


Palazzo  Poll  53 

site  of  an  older  church  built  by  Belisarius — as  is  told  by  an  inscrip- 
tion :  — 

'  Hanc  vir  patricius  Belisarius  nrliis  amicus 
Ob  culpae  veiiiam  condidit  ecclesiam. 
Hauc,  idcirco,  pedem  qui  sacram  ponis  in  aedem 
Ut  miseretur  eum  saepe  precare  Deum.' 

The  fault  which  Belisarius  wished  to  expiate  was  the  exile  of  Pope 
Silverius  (A.D.  536),  who  was  starved  to  death  in  the  island  of  Ponza. 
The  crypt  of  the  present  building,  being  the  parish  church  of  the 
Quirinal,  contains  the  entrails  of  twenty  Popes  (removed  for  em- 
balmment)— from  Sixtus  V.  to  Pius  VIII. — who  died  in  the  Quirinal 
Palace  I  The  urns  are  placed  in  a  vault  below  and  behind  the  high 
altar;  on  the  left  of  the  apse  is  a  monument  erected  by  Benedict  XIV., 
and  on  the  right  is  a  tablet  recording  the  names  of  the  Popes  who 
left  so  singular  a  bequest  to  the  church.  Behind  the  church,  be- 
tween the  fountain  and  the  Quirinal  Palace,  the  site  of  the  Porta 
Sanqualis  has  been  ascertained  by  the  discovery  of  some  tombs 
outside  the  line  of  the  Servian  wall.  The  interesting  travertine  Tomb 
of  the  Gens  Sempronia,  discovered  186(j,  is  of  the  first  century  B.C. 

The  little  church  near  the  opposite  corner  of  the  piazza  is  that  of 
The  Crociferi,  and  was  served  till  quite  lately  by  the  venerable  Don 
Giovanni  Merlini,  Father  General  of  the  Order  of  the  Precious 
Blood,  and  the  personal  friend  of  its  founder,  Gaspare  del  Buffalo. 

The  fountain  of  Trevi  occupies  one  end  of  the  gigantic  Palazzo 
Poll,  partly  rebuilt  in  1886,  and  formerly  celebrated  for  the  collections 
of  the  famous  jeweller,  Castellani.  Some  of  them  may  be  seen  in  a 
house  opposite  the  fountain. 

'  Castellani  est  I'lionime  qvii  a  ressusoite  la  bijouterie  romaine.  Son  escalier, 
tapissiS  d'inscriptions  et  de  bas-reliefs  antiques,  fait  croire  que  nous  entrons 
dans  un  musee.  Un  jeuiie  niarcliand  aussi  6rudit  que  les  archeologues  fait  voir 
une  collection  de  bijoux  anciens  de  toutes  les  epoques,  depuis  les  origines  de 
I'Etrurie  jusqu'au  siticle  de  Constantin.  C'est  la  source  oil  Castellani  puise  les 
elements  d'un  art  nouveau  qui  detnjnera  avant  dix  ans  la  pacotille  du  Palais- 
Royal.' — Aboict,  'Home.  Contemporaine.' 

'  C'est  en  s'inspirant  des  parures  retrouvees  dans  les  tombes  de  I'Etrurie,  des 
Ijracelets  et  des  colliers  dont  se  paraient  les  femmes  (Strusques  et  sabines,  que 
M.  Castellani,  guide  par  le  gout  savant  et  ing6nieux  d'un  honime  qui  porte  dig- 
nement  I'ancien  nom  de  Caetani,  a  introduit  dans  la  bijouterie  un  style  h  la  fois 
classique  et  nouveau.  Parmi  les  artistes  les  plus  originaux  de  Rome  sont  cer- 
tainement  les  orfevres  Castellani  et  D.  Miguele  Caetani,  due  de  Sermoneta.'— 
Ampere,  Hist.  Mom.  i.  38S. 

The  Cassa  del  Risparmio,  in  the  Piazza  Sciarra,  occupies  the  site 
of  the  Gaffe  Veneziano,  the  oldest  caffe  in  Rome  (closed  1868),  fre- 
quented by  Metastasio,  Monti,  Rossini,  &c. 

The  Palazzo  Sciarra  (on  left  of  the  Corso),  built  in  1603  from 
designs  of  Flaminio  Pouzio,  with  an  admirable,  but  later,  portico, 
contains,  or  contained,  a  gallery  of  pictures,  upon  which  no  ordinary 
visitor  has  looked  since  the  change  of  Government,  in  consequence 
of  an  iniquitous  attempt  made  by  the  authorities  to  seize  them  for 
the  State.  These  pictures  are  or  "were  the  private  property  of  Prince 
Sciarra.     They  were  originally  in  the  Palazzo  Barberini,  where  Miss 


54  Walks  in  Rome 

Berry  '  describes  them  in  1784,  but  cauie  to  the  family  of  Sciarra 
when  the  Barberini  pictures  were  divided  between  two  heiresses. 
The  six  celebrated  gems  of  the  gallery,  now  believed  to  be  taken 
out  of  Italy,  were  : — 

Fra  liartiilommcii  or  Fra  Paoliiw.     The  Holy  Family.      Sometimes  ascribed 

to  .Mariulto  Albertinelli. 
Raffaelle.     Tlie  Violin  Player  (the  improvisatore  Andrea  Marone  of  Brescia?). 

This  picture  is  often  considered  to  be  l)y  Sebastiano  del  Piombo. 
Caravaggio.    The  Gamblers. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci ^  (or  Bernardino  Luini?).     Modesty  and  Vanity. 
Titian.    'La  Bella  Donna  di  Tiziano."    Sometimes  supposed  to  represent 

Donna  Lanra  Eustacliio,  tlie  jieasant  Duchess  of  Alphonso  I.  of  Ferrara. 

This  picture  is  siimetinies  attriliuted  to  Pahna  Vecchio. 
Guido  lieni.     La  Macl<lalena  della  Kadice. 

Four  arches  and  five  piers  of  the  aqueduct  of  Aqua  Vergine 
remained  till  recently  in  the  courtyard  of  the  palace. 

The  Piazza  Sciarra  was  disgraced  by  the  ferocious  murder  of  a 
high-minded  priest  by  the  people,  at  the  very  moment  when  the 
French,  under  Oudinot,  were  entering  Rome — the  final  atrocity  of 
the  republicans  of  1848. 

Near  the  Piazza  Sciarra,  the  Corso  (as  Via  Flaminia)  was  formerly 
spanned  by  the  Arch  of  Claudius  (supporting  the  Aqua  Vergine), 
removed  in  1527.  Some  reliefs  from  this  arch  are  preserved  in  the 
portico  of  the  Villa  Borghese,  and,  though  much  mutilated,  are 
of  fine  workmanship.  The  inscription,  which  commemorated  the 
erection  of  the  arch  in  honour  of  the  conquest  of  Britain,  is  pre- 
served in  the  courtyard  of  the  Barberini  Palace. 

To  the  right  of  the  Piazza  Sciarra  opens  the  Via  della  Caravita, 
containing  the  small  but  popular  Church  of  the  Caravita,^  used  for 
the  peculiar  religious  exercises  of  the  Jesuits,  especially  for  their 
terrible  Lenten  '  flagellation '  services,  which  are  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  sights  afforded  by  Catholic  Rome. 

'The  ceremony  of  pious  whippings,  one  of  the  penances  of  the  convents,  still 
takes  place  at  the  time  of  vespers  in  the  oratory  of  the  Padre  Caravita,  and  in 
another  church  in  Rome.  It  is  preceded  by  a  short  exhortation,  during  which 
a  bell  rings,  and  whips,  that  is,  strings  of  knotted  whipcord,  are  distributed 
quietly  amongst  such  of  the  audience  as  are  on  their  knees  in  the  nave.  On 
a  second  bell,  the  candles  are  e.vtinguished — a  loud  voice  issues  from  the  altar, 
which  pours  forth  an  exhortation  to  think  of  unconfessed,  or  unrepented,  or  un- 
forgiven  crimes.  This  continues  a  suflicient  time  to  allow  the  kneelers  to  strip 
off  their  upper  garments  ;  the  tone  of  the  preacher  is  raised'more  loudly  at  each 
word,  and  he  vehemently  exhorts  his  hearers  to  recollect  that  Christ  and  the 
martyrs  suffered  much  more  than  whipping.  ".Show,  then,  your  penitence- 
show  your  sense  of  Christ's  sacrifice— show  it  with  the  whip."  The  flagellation 
begins.  The  darkness,  the  tumultuous  sound  of  blows  in  every  direction — 
"  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  pray  for  us  ! "  bursting  out  at  intervals  ;  the  persuasion 
that  you  are  surrounded  by  atrocious  culprits  and  maniacs,  who  know  of  an 
absolution  for  every  crime,  so  far  from  exciting  a  smile,  fixes  you  to  the  spot  in 
a  trance  of  restless  horror,  prolonged  beyond  bearing.  The  scourging  continues 
ten  or  fifteen  minutes.' — Lord  Brovghton. 


1  Journals. 

2  So  called  from_thelJesuit  father  of  that  uame,',who  lived  in  the  seventeenth 
century. 


Church  of  S.  Ignazio  55 

'  Each  man  on  entering  the  church  was  supplied  witli  a  scourge.  After  a  short 
interval  the  doors  were  barred,  the  lights  extinguished  ;  and  from  praying,  the 
congregation  proceeded  to  groaning,  crying,  and  finally,  being  worked  up  into  a 
kind  of  ecstatic  fury,  applied  the  scourge  to  their  uncovered^shoulders  without 
mercy.' — Whiteside's  '  Italij  in.  the  Sinetcenth  Centun/.' 

Beyond  the  Caravita,  facing  a  pretty  little  piazza  of  peculiar 
arrangement,  is  the  Church  of  S.  Ignazio,  built  by  Cardinal  Ludo- 
visi.  Its  proportions  are  singularly  noble;  the  fa(;;ade,  of  1685, 
is  by  Algardi.  This  church  contains  the  tomb  of  Gregory  XV. 
(Alessandro  Ludovisi,  1621-23),  and  that  of  S.  Luigi  Gonzaga,  both 
sculptured  by  Le  Gros. 

'  In  S.  Ignazio  is  the  chapel  of  San  Luigi  Gonzaga,  on  whom  not  a  few  of  the 
young  Koman  damsels  look  with  something  of  the  same  kind  of  admiration  as 
did  Clytie  on  Apollo,  whom  he  and  S.  Sebastian,  these  two  young,  beautiful, 
graceful  saints,  very  fairly  represent  in  Christian  mythology.  His  fusta  falls  in 
June,  and  then  his  altar  is  embosomed  in  flowers,  arranged  with  ex(iuisite  taste  ; 
and  a  pile  of  letters  may  be  seen  at  its  foot,  written  to  the  saijit  by  young  men 
and  maidens,  and  directed  to  Paradiso.  They  are  supposed  to  be  burnt  unread, 
except  by  San  Luigi,  who  must  find  singular  petitions  in  these  pretty  little 
missives,  tied  up  now  with  a  green  ribbon,  expressive  of  hope ;  now  with  a 
red  one,  .emblematic  of  love,  or  whatever  other  significant  coloiu'the  writer  may 
prefer.' — '  Mademoiselle  Mori.' 

The  frescoes  on  the  roof  and  tribune  are  by  the  Padre  Pozzi. 

'Amid  the  many  distinguished  men  whom  the  Jesuits  sent  forth  to  every 
region  of  the  world,  I  cannot  recollect  the  name  of  a  single  artist,  unless  it  be 
the  Father  Pozzi,  renowned  fur  his  skill  in  perspective,  and  who  used  his  skill 
less  as  an  artist  than  a  conjurer,  to  produce  such  illusions  as  make  the  vulgar 
stare  ; — to  make  the  impalpable  to  the  grasp  appear  as  palpable  to  the  vision  ; 
the  near  seem  distant,  the  distant  near ;  the  unreal,  real ;  to  cheat  the  eye  ;  to 
dazzle  the  sense ;— all  this  has  Father  Pozzi  most  cunningly  achieved  in  the 
Gesii  and  Sant'  Ignazio  at  Rome ;  but  nothing  more,  and  nothing  better  than 
this.  I  wearied  of  his  altar-pieces  and  of  his  wonderful  roofs  which  pretend  to 
be  no  roofs  at  all.  Scheme,  tricks,  and  deceptions  in  art  should  all  be  kept  for 
the  theatre.  It  appeared  to  me  nothing  less  than  profane  to  introduce  shams 
into  the  temples  of  God.' — Mrs.  Jameson. 

On  the  left  of  the  Corso — opposite  the  handsome  Palazzo  Simon- 
etti — is  the  Church  of  S.  Marcello  (Pope,  308-10),^  containing  some 
interesting  modern  monuments.  Among  them  are  those  of  Pierre 
Gilles,  the  traveller  (ob.  1555),  and  of  the  English  Cardinal  Weld. 
Here  also,  Cardinal  Consalvi,  the  famous  and  liberal  minister  of 
Pius  VII. — the  last  great  papal  minister — is  buried  in  the  same 
tomb  with  his  beloved  younger  brother,  Marchese  Andrea  Consalvi. 
Their  monument,  by  Rinaldi,  tells  that  here  repose  the  bodies  of 
two  brothers — 

'  Qui  cum  singulari  amore  dum  vivebant 
Se  mutuo  dilexissent 
Corpore  etiam  sua 
Una  eademque  urna  condi  voluere.' 

Here  are  the  masterpieces  which  made  the  reputation  of  Pierino 
del  Vaga  (1501-47).  In  the  chapel  of  the  Virgin  are  the  cherubs, 
whose  graceful  movements  and  exquisite  flesh-tints  Vasari  declares 

1  The  name  of  Pope— Pojjft— originally  belonging  to  all  teachers,  was  first 
applied  to  Pope  Marcellus,  in  the  letter  of  a  deacon  ;  but  it  was  not  till  400  that 
the  Bishops  of  Rome  took  it  formally. 


56  Walks  in  Rome 

to  have  been  unsurpassed  by  any  artist  in  fresco.     In  tlie  chaj)el  of 
the  Crucifix  is  the  Creation  of  Eve,  which  is  even  more  beautiful. 

'The  perfectly  beautiful  flfrure  of  the  naked  Adam  is  seen  lying  overpowered 
by  sleep,  while  Eve,  tilled  with  life,  and  with  ffdded  hands,  rises  to  receive  the 
blessing  of  her  Maker— a  most  grand  and  solemn  figure  standing  erect  in  heavy 
drapery.' — Vasari,  iv. 

This  church  is  said  to  occupy  the  site  of  a  house  of  the  Christian 
matron  Lucina,  in  which  Marcelhis  died  of  wounds  incurred  in 
attempting  to  settle  a  quarrel  among  his  Christian  followers.  It 
was  in  front  of  it  that  the  body  of  the  tribune  Rienzi,  after  his 
murder  on  the  Capitol  steps,  was  hung  up  by  the  feet  for  two  days 
as  a  mark  for  the  rabble  to  throw  stones  at. 

The  next  street  to  the  right  leads  to  the  CoUegio  Romano,  founded 
by  S.  Francesco  Borgia,  Duke  of  Gandia  (a  descendant  of  Pope 
Alexander  VI.),  who,  after  a  youth  spent  amid  the  splendours  of  the 
Court  of  Madrid,  retired  to  'Rorae  in  1550,  in  the  time  of  Julius  III., 
and  became  the  successor  of  Ignatius  Loyola  as  general  of  the 
Jesuits.  The  buildings  were  erected,  as  we  now  see  them,  by  Am- 
manati,  in  1582,  for  Gregory  XIII.  Till  1870  the  college  was 
entirely  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Jesuits  :  now,  men  like 
Carducci  the  poet,  who  glorified  Satan,  and  wrote  a  hymn  in 
praise  and  defence  of  Judas  Iscariot,  sit  amongst  its  professors. 
The  librarj'  is  large  and  valuable.  The  Museo  KircJtcriano,  on  the 
third  floor,  entered  from  27  Via  del  Collegio  Romano,  is  chiefly 
interesting  to  antiquaries.  It  is  visible  from  10  to  3  daily — 
admission  1  fr.,  free  on  holidays.  It  contains  a  number  of  anti- 
quities illustrative  of  Roman  and  Etruscan  customs,  and  many 
beautiful  ancient  bronzes.  The  most  important  object  is  the 
'  Cista  Mlstica,'  a  bronze  vase  and  cover,  which  was  given  as  a  prize 
to  successful  gladiators,  and  which  was  originally  fitted  up  with 
everything  useful  for  their  profession.  In  the  Christian  collection 
is  the  curious  f/raffito,  usually  supposed  to  represent  the  Crucifixion, 
found  on  the  Palatine,  and  described  in  Chap.  VI. ^  Another  gallery 
is  filled  with  interesting  objects  found  during  recent  excavations  at 
Palestrina.  The  little  cortile  at  the  left  of  the  entrance  to  the 
museum  contains  man}'  interesting  architectural  fragments,  especi- 
ally the  base  of  the  statue  of  Valens,  which  stood  on  the  Pons 
Cestius,  with  an  inscription. 

The  Observatory  of  the  Collegio  Romano  has  obtained  a  European 
reputation  from  the  important  astronomical  researches  of  its  late 
famous  director,  the  Padre  Secchi,  who  died  February  26,  1878. 

The  Collegio  Romano  has  produced  eight  Popes — Urban  VIII., 
Innocent  X.,  Clement  IX.,  Clement  X.,  Innocent  XII.,  Clement  XL, 
Innocent  XIIL,  and  Clement  XII.  Among  its  otlier  pupils  have 
been  S.  Camillo  de  Lellis,  the  Blessed  Leonardo  di  Porto-Maurizio, 
the  Venerable  Pietro  Berna,  and  others. 

'Ignace,  Francois  Borgia,  out  passe  ])ar  ici.  Leur  souvenir  plane,  coninie  un 
encouragement  et  une  btJnediction,  sur  cos  salles  oii  ils  pr6sidurent  aux  6tudes, 

1  It  is  in  the  room  at  the  end  of  the  corridor  on  the  left. 


S.  Maria  in  Via  Lata  57 

sur  ces  chaires  oii  peut-etre  reteiitit  leur  parole,  sur  ces  moiiestes  cellules  (juils 
ont  habitees.  A  la  fin  du  seizieme  siocle,  les  eleves  clu  colli-Ke  Romain  perdireiit 
un  de  leurs  condisciples  que  sa  douce  am6nitij  et  sos  vertus  anguli((ues  avaient 
rendu  I'objet  d'un  affectueux  respect.  Ce  jeune  liomme  avait  i-t6  page  de 
Philippe  II.  ;  il  etait  allie  aux  niaisons  royalcs  d'Autriche,  de  Bourbon  et  de 
Lorraine.  jMais  au  milieu  de  ces  illusions  dune  grande  vie,  sous  ce  brillant 
costume  de  cour  qui  semblait  Ini  promettre  honneurs  et  fortune,  il  ne  voyait 
jamais  que  la  pieuse  figure  de  sa  mere  apenouillee  au  pied  des  autels,  et  priant 
pour  lui.  A  peine  age  de  seize  ans,  il  s'echappe  de  Madrid,  il  vient  frajiper  k  la 
porte  du  college  Bomain,  et  demande  place,  au  dortoir  et  a  I'etude,  pour  Louis 
Gonzagne,  flis  du  conite  de  Castiglione.  Pendant  sept  ans,  Louis  ilonna  dans  cette 
maison  le  touchant  exemple  d'une  vie  celeste  ;  puis  ses  jours  dicliiurent,  comnie 
parte  I'Ecriture  ;  il  avait  assez  yecvL.'—Gournerie,  '  Rome  Chritienne,'  ii.  211. 

The  books  stolen  from  the  monasteries  after  the  fall  of  Kome 
were  stacked  on  the  ground  floor  of  the  Collegio  Romano,  in  the 
charge  of  a  single  porter,  who  was  only  discovered  to  be  selling 
them  as  waste-paper  when  a  student  found  that  the  butter  which 
he  bought  in  Piazza  Navona  was  wrapped  up  in  an  autograph  letter 
of  Columbus  ! 

The  Via  del  Collegio  Romano  passes  over  the  site  of  the  great 
temple  of  Isis  and  Serapis,  chiefly  due  to  Domitian.  The  obelisks 
of  the  Pantheon  and  Villa  Mattel  came  from  hence,  as  well  as  the 
great  statue  of  the  Nile,  and  many  curious  Egyptian  statues. 

We  now  reach,  on  the  right  of  the  Corso,  the  Church  of  S.  Maria 
in  Via  Lata,  which  was  founded  by  Sergius  I.  in  the  eighth  century, 
but  twice  rebuilt,  the  second  time  under  Alexander  VII.  in  1662, 
when  the  fagade  was  added  by  Pietro  da  Cortona. 

In  this  chiu'ch  '  they  still  show  a  little  chapel  in  which,  as  hath  been  handed 
down  from  the  first  ages,  S.  Luke  the  Evangelist  wrote,  and  painted  the  eftigy  of 
the  Virgin  Mother  of  God.' — See  Jameson's  'Sacred  Art,'  p.  155. 

The  subterranean  church  is  shown  as  the  actual  house  in  which 
S.  Paul  lodged  when  he  was  in  Rome.  It  belonged  to  Martialis, 
whom  a  beautiful  tradition  identifies  with  the  child  who  was 
especially  blessed  by  the  Divine  Master,  when  He  said,  '  Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me,'  and  who,  ever  after  a  faithful  follower 
of  Christ,  bore  the  basket  of  bread  and  fishes  in  the  wilderness,  and 
served  at  table  during  the  Last  Supper. 

'  And  when  we  came  to  Rome,  the  centurion  delivered  the  prisoners  to  the 
captain  of  the  guard  :  but  Paul  was  suffered  to  dwell  by  himself  with  a  soldier 
that  kept  him. 

'  And  when  they  had  appointed  him  a  day,  there  came  many  to  him  into  his 
lodging :  to  whom  he  expounded  and  testified  the  kingdom  of  God,  persuading 
them  concerning  Jesus,  both  out  of  the  law  of  Moses  and  out  of  the  prophets, 
from  morning  till  evening.  .  .  . 

'  And  Paul  dwelt  two  whole  years  in  his  own  hired  house,  and  received  all  that 
came  in  unto  him,  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  those  things 
which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with  all  confidence,  no  man  forbidding 
him.'— Acts  xxviii.  16,  23,  30,  31. 

'S.  Paul,  after  his  arrival  in  Rome,  having  made  his  usual  effort,  in  the  first 
place,  for  the  salvation  of  his  own  countrymen,  and,  as  usual,  having  found  it 
vain,  turned  to  the  Gentiles,  and  during  two  whole  years,  in  which  he  was  a 
prisoner,  received  all  that  came  to  him,  preaching  the  kingdom  of  (!ch1.  It  was 
thus  that  God  overruled  his  imprisonment  for  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel,  so 
that  his  bonds  in  Christ  were  manifest  in  the  palace,  and  in  all  other  places,  and 
many  of  the  brethren  of  the  Lord,  waxing  confident  by  his  bonds,  were  nuich 


58  Walks  in  Rome 

niDi-e  bold  t<>  .sjieiik  the  wont  without  fear.  ICvuii  in  thu  palace  of  Xero,  the  most 
noxious  atmosphere,  as  we  should  liave  concluded,  for  the  growth  of  divine 
truth,  his  bonds  were  manifest,  the  Lord  Jesus  was  preached,  and,  more  than 
this,  was  received  to  the  saving  of  many  souls  ;  for  we  find  the  apostle  writing: 
to  his  Pliilippian  converts  :  "All  the  saints  salute  you,  chiefly  they  which  are  of 
Caesar's  household."  ' — lilimt's  '  Lectures  on  S.  Paul.' 

'In  writing  to  Philemon,  Paul  chooses  to  speak  of  himself  as  the  captive  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Yet  he  went  whither  he  would,  and  was  free  to  receive  those  who 
came  to  him.  It  is  interesting  to  remember,  amid  these  solemn  vaults,  the 
different  events  of  .S.  Paul's  apostolate  during  the  two  years  that  he  lived  here. 
It  was  here  that  he  cfinverted  Onesimus,  that  he  received  the  presents  of  the 
Philippians,  brought  by  Kpaphroditus  ;  it  was  hence  that  he  wrote  to  Philemon, 
to  Titus,  to  the  inhabitants  of  Pliilippi  and  of  Colosse  ;  it  was  here  that  he 
preached  devotion  to  the  cross  with  that  glowing  eagerness,  with  that  startling 
eloquence,  which  gained  fresh  power  from  contest,  and  which  inspiration  ren- 
dered sublime. 

'  Peter  addressed  himself  to  the  uncircumcised  :  Paul  to  the  Gentiles  '—to  their 
silence  that  he  might  confound  it,  to  their  reason  that  he  might  humble  it. 
Had  he  not  already  converted  the  proconsul  Sergius  Pauhis,  and  Dionysius  the 
AreopagiteV  At  Kome  his  worj  is  equally  powerful,  and  among  the  courtiers  of 
Nero,  perhaps  even  amongst  his  relations,  are  Miose  who  yield  to  the  power  of 
God,  who  reveals  Himself  in  each  of  the  teachings  of  His  servant.'-  Around  the 
Apostle  his  eager  disciples  group  themselves — Onesiphorus  of  Ephesus,  who  was 
not  ashamed  of  his  chain;-'  Epaphras  of  Colosse,  who  was  captive  with  him, 
concaptivus  menu ;  ^  Timothy,  who  was  one  with  his  master  in  a  holy  imlon  of 
every  thought,  and  who  was  attached  to  him  like  a  son,  siciU  patrifllius  ;^  Her- 
nias, Aristarchus,  Marcus,  Demas,  and  Luke  the  physician,  the  faithful  com- 
panion of  the  Apostle,  his  well-beloved  disciple — "  Lucas  medicus  carissimiis."  ' — 
From  Gotinierie,  '  Jiome  Chrefienne.' 

'  I  honour  Rome  for  this  reason  ;  for  though  I  could  celebrate  her  praises  on 
many  other  accounts — for  her  greatness,  for  her  beauty,  for  her  power,  for  her 
wealth,  and  for  her  warlike  exploits — yet,  passing  over  all  these  things,  I  glorify 
her  on  this  account,  that  Paul  in  his  lifetime  wrote  to  the  Romans,  and  loved 
them,  and  was  present  with  and  conversed  with  them,  and  ended  his  life  amongst 
them.  Wherefore  the  city  is  on  this  account  renowned  more  than  on  all  others — 
on  this  account  I  admire  her,  not  on  account  of  her  gold,  her  columns,  or  her 
other  splendid  decorations." — .S'.  John  Chrysostom,  '  Homily  on  the  Ep.  to  the 
JiOhians.' 

'  The  Roman  Jews  expressed  a  wish  to  hear  from  S.  Paul  himself  a  statement  of 
his  religious  sentiments,  adding  that  the  Christian  sect  was  everywhere  spoken 
against.  ...  A  day  was  fixed  for  the  meeting  at  his  private  lodging. 

'  The  Jews  came  ill  great  numbers  at  the  appointed  time.  Then  followed  an 
impressive  scene,  like  that  of  Troas  (Acts  xxi.)— the  Apostle  pleading  long  and 
earnestly — bearing  testimony  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God — and  endeavouring 
to  persuade  them  liy  arguments  drawn  from  their  own  Scriptures — "from  morning 
till  evening."  The  result  was  a  division  among  the  auditors — "  not  peace,  liut  a 
sword" — the  division  which  has  resulted  ever  since,  when  the  Truth  of  God  has 
encountered,  side  by  side,  earnest  conviction  with  worldly  indifference,  honest 
investigation  with  bigoted  prejudice,  trustful  faith  with  the  pride  of  scepticism. 
After  a  long  and  stormy  discussion,  the  unbelieving  portion  departed  ;  but  not 
until  S.  Paul  had  warneil  them,  in  one  last  address,  that  they  were  bringing  upon 
themselves  that  awful  doom  of  judicial  blindness  which  was  denounced  in  their 
own  Scriptures  against  obstinate  unbelievers  ;  that  the  salvation  which  they 
rejected  would  be  withdrawn  from  them,  and  the  inheritance  they  renounced 
would  be  given  to  the  Gentiles.  The  sentence  with  which  he  gave  emphasis  to 
this  solemn  w  arning  was  that  passage  in  Isaiah  which,  recurring  thus  with  solemn 
force  at  the  very  close  of  the  Apostolic  history,  seems  to  bring  very  strikingly 
together  the  Old  Dispensation  and  the  New,  and  to  connect  the  ministry  of  our 
Lord  with  that  of  His  Apostles  :  "  Go  unto  this  people  and  say  :  Hearing  ye  shall 

i  Gal.  ii.  7.  2  phii.  h-.  22.  ■''  2  Tim.  i.  16. 

•4  Phileni.  23.  5  Phil.  ii.  22. 


S.  Maria  in  Via  Lata  59 

hear  and  shall  not  understand,  and  seeing  ye  shall  see  and  shall  not  perceive  : 
for  the  heart  of  this  people  is  waxed  gross,  and  tlieir  ears  are  dull  of  hearing, 
and  their  eyes  have  they  closed  ;  lest  they  should  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear 
with  their  ears,  and  understand  with  their  heart,  and  should  be  converted,  and 
I  should  heal  them." 

' .  .  .  During  the  long  delay  of  his  trial  S.  Paul  was  not  reduced,  as  he  had 
been  at  Caesarea,  to  a  forced  inactivity.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  permitted  the 
freest  intercourse  with  his  friends,  and  was  allowed  to  reside  in  a  house  of 
sufficient  size  to  accommodate  the  congregation  which  flocked  together  to  listen 
to  his  teaching.  The  freest  scope  was  given  to  his  labours,  consistent  with  the 
military  custody  under  which  he  was  placed.  We  are  told,  in  language  peculiarly 
emphatic,  that  his  preaching  was  subjected  to  no  restraint  whatever.  And  that 
which  seemed  at  first  to  impede,  must  really  have  deepened  the  impression  of 
his  eloquence ;  for  who  could  see  without  emotion  that  venerable  form  subjected 
by  iron  links  to  the  coarse  control  of  the  soldier  who  stood  beside  him  V  how 
often  must  the  tears  of  the  assembly  have  been  called  forth  by  the  upraising 
of  that  fettered  hand,  and  the  clanking  of  the  chain  which  checked  its  energetic 
action  ! 

'  We  shall  see  hereafter  that  these  labours  of  the  imprisoned  Confessor  were 
not  fruitless  ;  in  his  own  words,  he  "begot  many  children  in  his  chains."  Mean- 
while, he  had  a  wider  sphere  of  action  than  even  the  metropolis  of  the  world. 
Xot  only  "  the  crowd  which  pressed  upon  him  daily,"  but  also  "the  care  of  all 
the  churches,"  demanded  his  constant  vigilance  and  e.xertion.  ...  To  enable 
him  to  maintain  this  superintendence,  he  manifestly  needed  many  faithful 
messengers  ;  men  who  (as  he  says  of  one  of  them)  "  rendered  him  profitable 
service  ;  "  and  by  some  of  whom  he  seems  to  have  been  constantly  accompanied 
wheresoever  he  went.  Accordingly  we  find  him,  during  this  Roman  imi)rison- 
ment,  sm'rounded  by  many  of  his  oldest  and  most  valued  attendants.  Luke,  his 
fellow-traveller,  remained  with  him  during  his  bondage  ;  Tiniotheus,  his  beloved 
son  in  the  faith,  ministered  to  him  at  Rome,  as  he  had  done  in  Asia,  in  Macedonia, 
and  in  Achaia.  Tychicus,  who  had  formerly  borne  him  company  from  Corinth 
to  Ephesus,  is  now  at  hand  to  carry  his  letters  to  the  shores  which  they  had 
visited  together.  But  there  are  two  names  amongst  his  Roman  companions 
which  excite  a  peculiar  interest,  though  from  opposite  reasons — the  names  of 
Demas  and  of  Mark.  The  latter,  when  last  we  heard  of  him,  was  the  unhappy 
cause  of  the  separation  of  Barnabas  and  Paul.  He  was  rejected  by  Paul,  as  un- 
worthy to  attend  him,  because  he  had  previously  abandoned  the  work  of  the 
gospel  out  of  timidity  or  indolence.  It  is  delightful  to  find  him  now  ministering 
obediently  to  the  very  Apostle  who  had  then  repudiated  his  services  ;  still  more, 
to  know  that  he  persevered  in  this  fidelity  even  to  the  end,  and  was  sent  for  liy 
S.  Paul  to  cheer  his  dying  hours.  Demas,  on  the  other  hand,  is  now  a  faithful 
"fellow-labourer"  of  the  Apostle  ;  but  in  a  few  years  we  shall  find  that  he  had 
"forsaken"  him,  having  "loved  this  present  world." 

'  Amongst  the  rest  of  S.  Paul's  companions  at  this  time  there  were  two  whom 
he  distinguishes  by  the  honourable  title  of  his  "  fellow-prisoners."  One  of  these 
is  Aristarchus,  the  other  Epaphras.  With  regard  to  the  former,  we  know  that 
he  was  a  Macedonian  of  Thessalonica,  one  of  "Paul's  companions  in  travel," 
whose  life  was  endangered  by  the  mol)  at  Ephesus,  and  who  embarked  with  S.  Paul 
at  Caesarea  when  he  set  sail  for  Rome.  Thejother,  Epaphras,  was  a  Colossian, 
who  must  not  be  identified  with  the  Philippian  Epaphroditus,  another  of  S.  Paul's 
fellow-labourers  during  this  time.  It  is  not  easy  to  say  in  what  exact  sense  these 
two  disciples  were  peculiarly /t^toio-jsmoncre  of  S.  Paul.  Perhaps  it  only  implies 
that  they  dwelt  in  his  house,  which  was  also  his  prison. 

'  But  of  all  the  disciples  now  ministering  to  S.  Paul  at  Rome,  none  has  a  greater 
interest  than  the  fugitive  Asiatic  slave  Onesimus.  He  belonged  to  a  Christian 
named  Philemon,  a  member  of  the  Colossian  Church.  But  he  had  robbed  his 
master,  and  fled  from  Colosse,  and  at  last  found  his  way  to  Rome.  Here  he  was 
converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  had  confessed  to  ,S.  Paul  his  sins  against  his 
master.' — Conybeare  and  Uowson,  'Life  of  S.  Paid.' j 

'  Rome  contained  on  the  same  day  within  her  walls  such  men  as  Sophonius 
Tigellinus,  Nero,  Seneca,  Thrasea,  Paetus,  and  Paul  of  Tarsus ;  gradations  of 
human  nature,  from  the  devilish  worshipper  of  sensuality  to  the  worshipjier  of 
the  Ideal  in  the  crown  of  thorns.    They  might  have  trodden  the  pavement  of  the 


GO  Walks  in  Rome 

J-'oriiiii  at  tlio  same  innnioiit.  And  while  tliu  coiiit  Epicureans,  who  made  beauty 
as  independent  of  morality  as  a  later  age  would  have  made  religious  faith  inde- 
pendent of  reason,  lield  their  wild  revels  on  the  Palatine,  in  the  Ghetto  of  that 
time  walked  the  iioor  tent-maker  from  Cilicia,  looking  comi)assionately  on  these 
orgies  of  the  llesh— for  lie  felt  tluir  niiglit  in  his  own  frame— and  aljsorbed  in 
the  great  mystery  of  salvation,  the  annihilation  of  sin,  and  the  reunion  of  erring 
mankind  to  a  spiritual  body  in  the  true  ideal  of  beauty,  the  First-born  of  the 
creation.' —  I'iktur  Utjdber'j. 

A  fountain  in  the  crypt  is  shown,  as  having  miraculously  sprung 
up  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  S.  Paul,  that  he  might  have  where- 
withal to  baptize  his  disciples.  At  the  end  of  the  crypt  are  some 
large  blocks  of  peperino,  said  to  be  remains  of  the  arch  erected  by 
the  senate  in  honour  of  the  Emperor  Gordian  III.,  and  destroyed 
by  Innocent  VIII.  By  some  these  remains,  and  others  under  the 
Palazzo  Doria,  are  supposed  to  be  remains  of  the  Septa  Julia, 
covered  porticoes  for  the  use  of  the  Roman  people,  begun  by  Julius 
Caesar '  and  finished  by  Agrippa  in  27  B.C.- 

On  the  side  of  the  Via  Lata,  opposite  the  church,  is  a  quaint  little 
fountain  of  a  man  with  a  barrel,  whence  pours  the  water  ;  removed 
from  the  Corso  in  1872. 

Far  along  the  right  side  of  the  Corso  now  extends  the  facade  of 
the  immense  Palazzo  Doria,  built  by  Valvasori  (the  front  towards 
the  CoUegio  Romano  being  by  Pietro  da  Cortona,  and  that  towards 
the  Piazza  Venezia  by  Amati). 

'  The  Doria  Palace  is  ahnost  two-thirds  of  the  size  of  S.  Peter's,  and  within  the 
ground  plan  of  S.  Peter's  the  Coliseum  could  stand.  It  used  to  be  said  that  a 
thousand  persons  lived  under  the  roof  outside  of  the  gallery  and  the  private 
apartments,  which  alone  surpass  in  extent  the  majority  of  royal  residences.  .  .  . 
One  often  hears  foreign  visitors,  ignorant  of  the  real  size  of  palaces  in  Home, 
observe,  with  contempt,  that  the  lloman  princes  let  their  palaces.  It  would  be 
more  reasonable  to  inquire  what  use  could  be  made  of  such  buildings  if  they 
were  not  let,  or  how  any  family  could  be  expected  to  inhabit  a  thousand  rooms.' — 
F.  Marion  Crawford. 

The  Picture  Gallery  (open  on  Mondays  and  Fridays  from  10  to 
2 — on  fasts  the  day  following)  is  reached  from  the  Piazza  del 
Collegio  Romano,  at  the  back  of  the  palace.  It  contains,  amid  a 
chaos  of  pictorial  rubbish,  a  very  few  fine  works,  partly  collected 
by  Olympia  Maldacchini,  partly  acquired  in  the  time  of  the  great 
Andrea  Doria,  and  brought  to  Rome  from  Genoa.  Amongst  the 
gems  of  the  collection,  but  removed  to  the  private  apartments,  are — 

"  Schastiano  del  Piomho.    (Celebrated  for  his  great  power  of  making  use  of 
all  the  tints  of  the  same  colour,  which  is  especially  shown  in  this 
picture.)    Portrait  of  Andrea  Doria. 
A  portrait  by  Bronzino  is  said  to  represent  Glanetto  Doria. 

The  pictures  are  ill  restored.  Entering  the  galleries  and  turning 
to  the  left,  we  may  notice — 

1st  Gallery — 

Algardi.  Bust  of  Olympia  Maldacchini  Pamfili,  the  sister-in-law  of 
Innocent  X.,  who  ruled  Rome  in  his  time,  and  built  the  Villa  Doria 
Pamfili  for  her  son. 


1  Cicero,  Ad  Alt.  v.  16.  '-^  Dion.  Cass.  liii.  23. 


The  Palazzo  Doria  61 

65.  Holbein!    Portrait  of  a  man  holiling  ;i  uaniatioii  (1546). 

66.  Holbein?    Female  Portrait. 
*68.  Claude  Lorraine.    Tlie  Mill. 

'The  foreground  of  the  picture  of  "The  Mill"  is  a  piece  of  very  lovely  aiul 
perfect  forest  scenery,  with  a  dance  of  peasants  by  a  brook-side  ;  quite  enough 
subject  to  form,  in  the  hands  of  a  master,  an  impressive  and  complete  idcture. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  brook,  however,  we  have  a  piece  of  pastoral  life  ;  a  man 
with  some  bulls  and  goats  tumbling  head  foremost  into  the  water,  owing  to 
some  sudden  paralytic  affection  of  all  their  legs.  Even  this  group  is  one  too 
many  ;  the  shepherd  had  no  l)usiness  to  drive  his  flock  so  near  the  dancers,  and 
the  dancers  will  certainly  frighten  the  cattle.  But  when  we  look  finther  into 
the  picture,  our  feelings  receive  a  sudden  and  violent  shock,  by  the  unexiiected 
appearance,  amidst  things  pastoral  and  musical,  of  the  military  ;  a  number  of 
Roman  soldiers  riding  in  on  hobby-horses,  with  a  leader  on  foot,  apparently 
encouraging  them  to  make  an  immediate  and  decisive  charge  on  the  nnisicians. 
Beyond  the  soldiers  is  a  circular  temple,  in  exceedingly  bad  repair ;  and  close 
beside  it,  built  against  its  very  walls,  a  neat  water-mill  in  full  work  ;  l)y  the  mill 
flows  a  large  river  with  a  weir  across  it.  .  .  .  At  an  inconvenient  distance  from 
the  water- side  stands  a  city,  composed  of  twenty -five  round  towers  and  a 
pyramid.  Beyond  the  city  is  a  handsome  bridge ;  beyond  the  bridge,  part  of 
the  Campagna,  with  fragments  of  aqueducts ;  beyond  the  Campagna  the  chain 
of  the  Alps  ;  on  the  left,  the  cascades  of  Tivoli. 

'  This  is  a  fair  example  of  what  is  commonly  called  an  "  ideal  "  landscape  :  i.e. 
a  group  of  the  artist's  studies  from  nature,  individually  spoiled,  selected  with 
such  opposition  of  character  as  may  ensure  their  neutralising  each  otlier's 
effect,  and  united  with  sufficient  unnaturalness  and  violence  of  association  to 
ensure  their  jjroducing  a  general  sensation  of  the  impossible." — liuskin's  'Modern 
Painters.' 

'  Many  painters  take  a  particular  spot,  and  sketch  it  to  perfection  ;  but 
Claude  was  convinced  that  taking  nature  as  he  found  it  seldom  produced 
beauty.  Neither  did  he  like  exhibiting  in  his  pictures  accidents  of  nature.  He 
professed  to  portray  the  style  of  general  nature,  and  so  his  pictures  were  a 
composition  of  the  various  drafts  which  he  had  ijreviously  nmde  from  beautiful 
scenes  and  prospects.' — Sir  J.  Reynolds. 

76.  Annibale  Caracci.    Pieti'i.  | 

79.  Claude  Lorraine.    Landscape,  with  the  Temple  of  Apollo. 

S8.  Bosso  Dosfii.    Portrait,  probably  a  heroine  of  the  '  Orlando  Furioso '  (said 

to  represent  Vanozza,  mother  of  Lucretia  and  Cesare  Borgia — who  died 

before  the  birth  of  Dosso  I) 

Cabinet — 

Bernini.    Bust  of  Innocent  X.  (with  whose  ill-acquired  wealth  this 
palace  was  built),  in  rosso-antico,  with  a  bronze  head. 
'112.  Raffaelle.     '  Bartolo  and  Baldo'— the  Venetians  Beazzano  and  Xavagero, 
painted  in  Rome,  April  151G.1 

113.  Velasquez.     Portrait  of  Innocent  X.— Gio.  Battista  Pamfili  (1644-55)— 

'I'uomo  dair  aspetto  tetrice  e  saturnino,'  as  GJiovanni  Giustiniani,  the 
Venetian  ambassador,  wrote  of  him.  '  Un  Papa  buono  per  Ic  donne,' 
is  the  description  of  Cardinal  Francesco  Barberini.  This  stupendously 
magnificent  picture  is  the  finest  portrait  in  Rome,  and  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  world. 

114.  Titian  ?    Portrait,  called,  without  reason,  Marco  Polo. 
110.  Ignoto.    Xiccolaus  Macciavellus,  Ilistoriar  Scriptor. 
148.  Vandyke?    Portrait  of  a  Widow. 

The  2nd  Gallery  is  decorated  with  mirrors,  and  statues  of  no 
especial  merit.  Hence  four  rooms,  with  indifferent  pictures,  lead 
to  a  Cabinet  containing  busts  of  Philippo,  Prince  Doria,  his  wife 

1  Letter  of  Bembo  to  Cardinal  Dovizio  da  Bibbiena,  referring  to  the  presence 

of  the  two  Venetians  in  Rome. 


62  Walks  in  Rome 

(Lady  Mary  Talbot),  and  her  sister  Gwendolen,  the  saintly  Princess 
Borghese.     Returning  we  enter 

The  3rd  GaUcry— 

257.  Sansoffrrato.     lloly  Family. 

265.  Titian.     A  Portrait. 

27S.  h'aro/alo  (1519).    The  MeetiiiR  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth. 

292.  Saraceni.     The  Flii^ht  into  Kpypt. 

296.  iiuido  Jieiil.    Madonna  and  ^sleeping  I'liikl. 

The  Great  Hall  contains  in  the  centre  a  Centaur  in  rosso-antico, 
found  in  the  villa  of  Pompey  at  Albano.  Round  the  walls  are  four 
fine  .sarcoj)hagi,  with  reliefs  of  the  Hunt  of  Meleager,  the  story  of 
Marsyas,  Endymion  and  Diana,  and  a  Bacchic  procession.  Of  two 
ancient  circular  altars,  one  serves  as  the  pedestal  of  a  bearded 
Dionysius.  'Noah's  Sacrifice'  is  a  large  but  feeble  work  of  Pletro 
Ju  Cortona. 

The  ith  Gallery— 

387.  Quentin  Matsijs.    The  Misers. 

4(18.  Rvbeiu.    Portrait  of  a  Monk  who  was  the  confessor  of  the  artist. 

414.  Titian  (called  Pariienone).     The  Daughter  of  Herodias. 

A  grand  bust  of  .Andrea  Doria. 
418.  A  feehle  Flemish  imitation  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci.    Joanna  of  Arragon. 
4'i-2.  Garoj'alo  (ascribed  to  L'Ortolano).     The  Nativity— a  beautiful  picture. 

'  In  the  whole  immense  range  of  rooms  of  the  Palazzo  Doria,  I  saw  but  a  single 
fireplace,  and  that  so  deep  in  the  wall  that  no  amount  of  blaze  would  raise  the 
atmiisphere  of  the  room  ten  degrees.  If  the  builder  of  the  palace,  or  any  of  his 
successors,  have  committed  crimes  worthy  of  Tophet,  it  would  be  a  still  worse 
piniishinent  to  him  to  wander  perpetually  through  this  suite  of  rooms,  on  the 
cold  tloora  of  polished  brick  tiles,  or  marble,  or  mosaic,  growing  a  little  chillier 
and  chillier  through  every  moment  of  eternity,  or  at  least  till  the  palace 
crumbles  down  upon  him.' — Ilaivtiiurne,  '  \otf's  on  liah/.' 

Opposite  the  Palazzo  Doria  is  the  Palazzo  Salviati,  where  Cardinal 
de  Bernis,  the  favourite  of  Madame  du  Earri,  held  his  court ;  and 
received  'Mesdames'  —  Tantes  du  Roi  — when  thej'  fled  from  the 
Chateau  de  Bellevue  at  the  Great  Revolution.  The  next  two  streets 
on  the  left  lead  into  the  long  narrow  square,  Piazza  Santi  Apostoli 
(where  General  Oudinot  returned  public  thanks  after  the  capture  of 
Rome  by  the  French,  June  29,  1849),  containing  several  handsome 
palaces.  That  on  the  riglit  is  the  Palazzo  Odescalchi,  built  by 
Bernini,  in  1660,  for  Cardinal  Fabio  Chigi,  to  whose  family  it 
formerly  belonged.  It  has  some  fine  painted  and  carved  wooden 
ceilings.  This  palace  is  supposed  to  be  the  scene  of  one  of  the 
latest  miracles  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  Princess 
Odescalchi  had  long  been  bedridden,  and  was  apparently  dying  of 
a  hopeless  disease,  when,  while  her  family  were  watching  what 
they  considered  her  last  moments,  the  Pope  (Pius  IX.)  sent,  by  the 
hands  of  a  nun,  a  little  loaf  (panctcUo),  which  he  desired  her  to 
swallow.  With  terrible  effort  the  sick  woman  obeyed,  and  was 
immediately  healed,  and  on  the  following  day  the  astonished 
Romans  saw  her  go  in  person  to  the  Pope,  at  the  Vatican,  to  return 
thanks  for  her  restoration  1 


The  Palazzo  Colonna  63 

The  building  at  the  end  of  the  square  is  the  Palazzo  Valentini,  now 
the  Prefettura,  which  once  contained  a  collection  of  antiquities. 
In  the  courtyard  were  a  number  of  curious  heads  of  animals,  now 
in  the  Museo  delle  Terme. 

Near  this,  on  the  left,  but  separated  from  the  piazza  by  a  court- 
yard, is  the  vast  Palazzo  Colonna,  begun  in  the  fifteenth  century 
by  Martin  V.,  and  continued  at  various  later  periods.  Martin  V. 
resided  here  with  his  kindred,  considering  the  Colonna  Palace  more 
secure  than  the  Vatican.  The  people  tried  to  force  his  successor 
(Eugenius  IV.)  to  live  here  also.  Julius  II.  at  one  time  made  the 
palace  his  residence,  and  also  Cardinal  (afterwards  San  Carlo) 
Borromeo.  Part  of  it  is  now  a  residence  for  French  ambassadors. 
The  palace  is  built  very  near  the  site  of  the  ancient  fortress  of  the 
Colonna  family — so  celebrated  in  times  of  mediaeval  warfare  with 
the  Orsini — of  which  one  lofty  tower  still  remains  in  a  street  lead- 
ing up  to  the  Quirinal. 

The  GMery,  shown  from  11  to  3  on  Tuesdays  and  Saturdays, 
can  only  now  be  entered  at  No.  17  Via  della  Pilotta — the  pictur- 
esque street  at  the  back  of  the  palace.  Hence  you  at  once 
reach  the  Great  Hall,  a  truly  grand  room,  hung  with  mirrors  and 
painted  with  flowers  by  Mario  de'  Fiori,  and  with  genii  by  Maratta. 
The  statues  here  are  unimportant.  The  ceiling  is  adorned  with 
paintings,  by  Coli  and  Gherardi,  of  the  battle  of  Lepanto,  Oct.  8, 
1571,  which  Marc -Antonio  Colonna  assisted  in  gaining.  The 
best  pictures  are  the  family  portraits  :  Federigo  Colonno,  Suster- 
manns ;  Don  Carlo  Colonna,  Vandylce ;  Card.  Pompeio  Colonna, 
Lorenzo  Lotto ;  Vittoria  Colonna,  Muziano ;  Lucrezia  Colonna, 
Vandyke  (the  best  work  of  the  artist  in  Rome)  ;  Pompeio  Colonna, 
Agnstino  Caracci ;  Giacomo  Sciarra  Colonna,  Gioryione.  We  may 
also  notice  an  extraordinary  picture  of  the  Madonna  rescuing  a 
child  from  a  demon,  by  Niccolo  d'  Aluymo,  with  two  male  figures 
by  Tintoret.  Near  the  entrance  are  some  glorious  old  cabinets, 
inlaid  with  ivory  and  lapis-lazuli.  On  the  steps  leading  to  the 
upper  end  of  the  hall  is  a  bomb  left  on  the  spot  where  it  fell  during 
the  siege  of  Rome  in  1848. 

'The  Galleria  is  itself  too  brilliant  a  picture  for  the  pictures  which  it  con- 
tains.'—i*'orsi/f/i. 

From  the  lower  end  of  the  Great  Hall,  on  the  right,  we  enter — 
The  1st  Room.   The  ceiling  has  a  fresco,  by  Battoni  and  lAiti,  of  the 
apotheosis  of  Martin  V.  (Oddone  Colonna,  1417-24) — the  Colonnas 
rise  from  the  grave  bearing  the  column,  the  heraldic  emblem  of 
their  race.     The  pictures  include — 

Paolo  Veronese.    A  portrait. 
Holbein.     Lorenzo  Colonna. 
Ann.  Caracci.     Peasant  dining. 
Titian.     Onuphrio  Pavinio.  ^ 

Giov.  Bellini?    S.  Bernard. 

The  Srd  Room  has  an  interesting  collection  of  the  early  schools, 
including    Madonnas    of    Filippo    Lippi,    Luca    Longhi,    Botticelli, 


64  Walks  in  Rome 

Gentile  da  Fubriano,  Innoccnzo  da  J  viola ;  a  curious  Crucifixion,  bv 
Jacopo  d'  Arati:o;  and  a  portrait  by  Giovanni  Sanzio,  father  of 
llallaelle. 

These  lead  into  a  fine,  gloomy  old  hall,  containing  the  family 
dais,  and  hung  with  decaying  Colonna  portraits.  Then  come  three 
rooms  covered  with  tapestries,  the  last  containing  a  pretty  statue 
of  a  girl,  not  often  shown,  sometimes  called  Niobe. 

(Through  the  palace  access  may  be  obtained  to  the  beautiful 
Colonna  Gardens  ;  but  as  they  are  generally  visited  from  the 
Quiriual  they  will  be  noticed  in  the  description  of  the  hill.) 

'  On  piirle  d'un  Pierre  Colonna,  depouillu  de  tons  ses  biens  en  1100  par  le  pape 
Pascal  II.  11  fallait  nue  la  famille,  fiit  diija  passablement  ancienne,  car  les  grandes 
fortunes  ne  sVlevent  pas  en  un  ]q\\v.'— About. 

'  Si'l  n"etoit  le  different  des  Ursins  et  de  Colonnois  [Orsini  and  Colonna]  la  terrc 
de  I'Eglise  seroit  la  plus  heureuse  habitation  pour  les  subjects,  qui  soit  en  tout 
le  mowiXe.'—Phillippe  de  Comims,  1500. 

'  Gloriosa  Colonna,  in  cui  s'  appoRgia 
Nostra  speranza,  e  '1  gran  nonie  latino, 
Ch'  ancor  non  torse  dal  vero  taniniino 
L'  ira  di  Giove  per  ventosa  pioggia.' 

— Petrarca,  Sonetto  x. 

Adjoining  the  I'alazzo  Colonna  is  the  fine  Chiirch  of  the  Santi 
Apostoli,  founded  in  the  si.Kth  century,  rebuilt  by  Martin  V.  in 
112ft,  and  modernised,  c.  1602,  by  Fontana.  The  fac^ade  is  by  Meo 
del  Caprino.  The  portico  contains  a  magnificent  bas-relief  of  an 
eagle  and  an  oak-wreath  (frequently  copied  and  introduced  in 
architectural  designs),  brought  from  the  Forum  of  Trajan. 

'  Entrez  sous  le  portique  de  I'eglise  des  Saints-Apotres,  et  vous  trouverez  la, 
encadru  par  hasard  dans  le  niur,  un  aigle  qu'entoure  una  couronne  dun  magni- 
tlque  travail.  Vous  reconnaitrez  facilenient  dans  cet  aigle  et  cette  couronne  la 
representation  d'une  enseigne  roinaine,  telle  que  les  bas-reliefs  de  la  colonne 
Trajane  vous  en  ont  niontre  plusieurs  ;  seulement  ce  qui  6tait  lii  en  petit  est  ici 
en  grand.' — Ampere,  Emp.  ii.  108. 

Beneath  the  eagle  is  a  quaint  thirteenth-century  lion — '  opus 
magistri  Vassallecti ' — removed,  since  the  change  of  Government, 
from  the  front  of  the  church  towards  the  piazza.  The  famous 
calix  marmoreus — a  vase  mentioned  in  the  Bull  of  John  III.,  A.D. 
570,  by  which  the  boundary-line  of  the  parish  was  determined — 
has  been  removed  to  the  Baths  of  Diocletian.  Also  in  the  portico 
is  a  DQonument,  by  Canova,  to  Volpato  the  engraver.  The  church 
is  the  stately  burial-place  of  the  bouse  of  Colonna.  Over  the 
sacristy  door  is  also  the  tomb  of  Pope  Clement  XIV.  (Giov.  Antonio 
Ganganelli,  17G9-74),  also  by  Canova,  executed  in  his  twenty-fifth 
year.  Clement  XIV.  was  the  last  Pope  who  took  part  in  the  public 
procession  of  the  'cavalcata'  to  the  Lateran  (Nov.  26,  1769),  riding, 
as  Popes  had  always  done  hitherto,  upon  a  white  palfrey,  covered 
with  a  crimson  velvet  gold  -  embi'oidered  saddle-cloth.  He  was 
supposed  to  have  died  from  poison  administered  bv  the  Jesuits 
(Sept.  30,  1774). 


The  Santi  Apostoli  65 

'  The  nature  of  the  Pope's  illness,  and  all  the  circumstances  of  his  death,  make 
every  one  believe  it  could  not  be  natural.' — Cardinal  de  Bernis. 

'  Mori  Clemente,  e  il  siio  niorir  fatale 
Fa  iniprinierci  nel  cuore  alto  spavento 
Che  nel  trasse  al  lugubre  funerale 
D' occulta  man  venetico  ardimento.' 

— Contemporary  Verses. 

'La  mort  de  Clement  XIV.  est  du  22  Septembre  1774.  A  cette  6poque, 
Alphonse  de  Liguori  etait  eveque  de  Sainte-Agathe  des  Goths,  au  royaume  de 
Naples.  Le  22  Septembre,  au  matin,  I'eveque  tomba  dans  une  espece  de  sommeil 
lethargique  apres  avoir  dit  la  messe,  et,  pendant  vingt-ciuatre  heures,  il  demeura 
sans  mouvement  dans  son  fauteuil.  Ses  serviteurs  s'etonnant  de  cet  etat,  le 
lendeniain,  avec  lui :  "  Vous  ne  savez  pas,"  leur  dit-il,  "  que  j'ai  assiste  le  pape 
que  vient  de  mourir."  Pen  apres,  la  nouvelle  du  dices  de  Clement  arriva  k 
Sainte-Agathe.'— Gownierie,  '  Chretienne,'  ii.  362. 

In  1873  the  traditional  grave  of  S.  Philip  and  S.  James  the  Less, 
the  '  Apostoli '  to  whom  this  church  is  dedicated,  was  opened 
during  its  restoration.  Two  bodies  were  found,  enclosed  in  a 
sarcophagus  of  beautiful  transparent  marble,  and  have  been  duly 
enshrined. 

In  the  choir  are  two  beautiful  monuments  of  the  fifteenth 
century ;  on  the  left  is  that  with  an  admirable  portrait-statue  to 
Piero  Riario,  the  profligate  and  luxurious  nephew  of  Sixtus  IV., 
made  cardinal  at  twenty-five,  who  flaunted  his  mistresses  in  attire 
of  such  surpassing  costliness  that  even  their  slippers  were  em- 
broidered with  pearls.  On  the  right  is  the  monument,  with  a 
portrait,  of  Cardinal  Raffaello  Riario,  and  beneath  it  the  tomb 
of  Giraud  Auseduno,  who  married  a  niece  of  Pope  Julius  II.  and 
was  maitre-d'hotel  ('  familiae  praefectus ')  to  Charles  VIII.  and 
Louis  XII.  of  France.  The  tomb  of  Cardinal  Bessarion  was  re- 
moved from  the  church  in  1702  to  the  cloisters  of  the  adjoining 
Convent,  which  is  the  residence  of  the  General  of  the  Order  of 
'  Minori  Conventuali '  (Black  Friars).  The  altarpiece,  by  Muratori, 
represents  the  martyrdom  of  SS.  Philip  and  James. 

Against  the  second  pillar  on  the  right  is  the  monument  of  the 
heart  of  Maria  Clementina  Sobieski  (buried  in  S.  Peter's),  wife  of 
James  III.,  called  the  Old  Pretender,  as  is  shown  by  the  inscription, 
'  Hie  Clementinae  remanent  praecordia,  nam  cor  coelestis  fecit  ne 
superesset  amor.' 

'  Le  roi  d'Angleterre  est  diSvot  a  I'excfes ;  sa  matinee  se  passe  en  priferes  aux 
Saints- Apfltres,  pres  du  tombeau  de  sa  femme.' — De  Brasses,  1739. 

Here  also  the  '  Old  Pretender'  (Chevalier  de  S.  George)  himself 
lay  in  state  for  five  days,  crowned,  sceptred,  and  in  royal  robes, 
under  a  canopy  inscribed — ■'  Jacobus,  Magnae  Britanniae  Rex,  Anno 
MDCCLXVL' 

In  1552  the  church  was  remarkable  for  the  sermons  of  the  monk 
Felix  Peretti,  afterwards  Sixtus  V. 

'  Suivant  un  manuscrit  de  la  bibliotheque  Alfieri,  un  jour,  pendant  qu'il  (§taie 

dans  la  chaire  des  Saints-Apotres,  un  Ijillet  cachete  lui  fut  remis  ;  Fr6re  Felix 

I'ouvre  et  y  lit,  en  face  d'un  certain  nombre  de  propositions  que  Ton  disait  etr. 

extraites  de  ses  discours,  ce  mot  ecrit  en  gros  caractores  :  MENTIRIS  (tu  mens) 

VOL.  I.  E 


6G  Walks  in  Rome 

Le  (ouKueux  oriiUiur  cut  peine  ii  coiitunir  son  t-motion  ;  il  terniiiia  son  sermon  en 
(luehiuea  piiroles,  et  courut  an  jmlais  de  llnquisition  presenter  le  billet  mysteri- 
fiix  et  (Icnianiler  cin'on  exaniinat  sc-rupuleuseinent  sa  doctrine.  Cet  examen  lui 
fut  favoralile,  et  it  lui  valiit  laniitie  du  grand  in<iuisiteur,  Michel  Ghislieri,  qui 
comprit  aussitut  tout  le  parti  (ju'on  pouvait  tirer  d'un  hommedont  les  nioindres 
actions  etaient  enipreintes  d'une  inebranlable  force  de  ca.Ta.ctiTe.'—Goitrnerie. 

In  this  church  is  buried  the  young  Countess  Savorelli,  the  story 
of  whose  love,  misfortunes,  and  death  has  been  celebrated  by 
About,  under  the  name  of  Tolla  (the  Lello  of  the  story  having  been 
one  of  the  Doria-Pamfili  family). 

'  The  convent  which  Tolla  had  sanctified  by  her  death  sent  three  embassies  in 
turn  to  Ix-'g  to  preserve  her  relics  :  already  the  people  spoke  of  her  as  a  saint. 
But  Count  Keraldi  (Savorelli)  considered  that  it  was  due  to  his  honour  and  to  his 
vengeance  to  bear  her  remains  with  pomp  to  the  tomb  of  his  family.  He  had 
suttlcient  iiilluence  to  obtain  that  for  which  permission  is  not  granted  once  in  ten 
years— the  right  of  transporting  her  uncovered,  upon  a  bed  of  white  velvet,  and 
of  sparing  her  the  horrors  of  a  colfln.  The  beloved  remains  were  wrapped  in  the 
white  muslin  robe  which  slie  wo.-«  in  the  garden  on  the  day  when  she  exchanged 
her  sweet  vows  with  Lello.  The  Marchesa  Trasimeni,  ill  an<l  wasted  as  she  was, 
carae  herself  to  arrange  her  hair  in  the  manner  she  loved.  Every  garden  in  Rome 
despoiled  itself  to  send  her  its  flowers  ;  it  was  only  necessary  to  choose.  The 
funeral  procession  quitted  the  church  of  S.  Antonio  Abbate  on  Thursday  evening 
at  7.30  for  the  Santi  Apostoli,  where  the  Feraldi  are  buried.  The  body  was 
preceded  by  a  long  file  of  the  black  and  white  confraternities,  each  bearing  its 
banner.  The  red  light  of  the  torches  played  upon  the  countenance  of  the 
beautiful  dead,  and  seemed  to  animate  her  afresh.  The  piazza  was  filled  with  a 
dense  and  closely  packed  but  dumb  crowd  ;  no  discordant  sound  troulded  the 
grief  of  the  relations  and  friends  of  Tolla,  who  wept  together  at  the  Palazzo 
Feraldi.  .  .  . 

'  The  Church  of  the  Apostoli  and  the  tomb  of  the  poor  loving  girl  become  at 
certain  days  of  the  year  an  object  of  pilgrimage,  and  more  than  one  young 
Roman  maiden  adds  to  her  evening  litany  the  words,  "  S.  Tolla,  virgin  and 
martyr,  pray  for  us." ' — About. 

Just  beyond  the  church  is  the  Palazzo  Muti  -  Pappazzuri  or 
SavorellL  the  home  of  Tolla  ('Palazzo  Feraldi').  The  palace  was 
the  Roman  residence  of  the  Stuart  princes.  Here  Clementina 
Sobieski  died  in  the  habit  of  a  Dominican  nun,  and  lay  in  state 
(Jan.  22,  1735)  'upon  royal  robes  with  a  royal  crown,'  and  was 
carried  hence  with  royal  pomp  to  S.  Peter's.  James  III.,  called 
'  the  Old  Pretender,'  died  here  in  17G6.  His  eldest  son.  Prince 
Charles  Edward,  'the  Young  Pretender,'  also  died  Jan.  31,  1788, 
in  the  arms  of  his  daughter  by  Miss  Walkenshaw  (Duchess  of 
Albany),  here  in  the  house  where  he  had  been  born  on  New  Year's 
Eve,  1720,  amid  tumultuous  rejoicings. 

'  The  cannon  of  S.  Angelo  thundered  in  his  honour.  A  new  star  was  said  to 
appear  in  the  heavens  that  night  to  hail  him.  The  Pope  provided  the  baby- 
linen  U>  the  value  of  6000  scudi.  The  Sacred  College  and  the  Spanish  coiu-t 
came  with  their  liberal  offerings  of  gold.  He  was  baptized  by  the  names  of 
Charles  Edward  Louis  Cashmr.'— Dublin  Jieview,  p.  245. 

Cardinal  York  used  to  drive  hither  from  Albano  with  four  horses, 
full  gallop,  attended  by  running  footmen,  who  were  so  active  and 
well-trained  that  they  could  tire  out  the  fleetest  horse.^     Sir  Horace 

1  Silvagni. 


Piazza  di  Venezia  67 

Mann  mentions  in  one  of  his  letters  (May  2,  1772)  that  the  Romans 
used  to  call  the  wife  of  Charles  Edward  '  Regina  apostolorum,'  from 
the  situation  of  her  palace.^  The  Palazzo  Savorelli  has  buried  the 
site  of  the  central  office  of  the  Roman  Vigiles  or  firemen.  It  was 
discovered  under  the  Palace  in  164i,  and  consisted  of  huge  walls 
with  mosaic  pavements  and  statues.  There  were  seven  main 
stations  (stationes)  and  fourteen  offshoots  (excubitoria)  of  the  fire 
brigade  in  Rome. 

Returning  to  the  Corso,  we  pass  (right)  Palazzo  Bonaparte  (for- 
merly D'Asti),  built  by  Giovanni  dei  Rossi  in  1660.  There  is  a 
gigantic  statue  of  Napoleon  I.  opposite  the  foot  of  the  staircase. 
Here  Laetitia  Bonaparte — '  Madame  Mere ' — the  mother  of  Napoleon 
I.,  three  kings  and  a  queen,  lived  in  dignified  simplicity,  and  died 
February  2,  183G.  When  she  was  dying,  the  porter,  for  a  fee  of 
one  scudo,  used  to  let  people  in  to  look  at  her  through  the  crevices 
of  a  screen.-  The  Roman  Princes  Bonaparte  represent  the  fusion 
of  the  two  lines  of  Joseph  and  Lucien,  brothers  of  Napoleon  I.  The 
recent  head  of  the  family  was  Cardinal  Lucien-Louis  Bonaparte, 
son  of  Prince  Charles  (son  of  Lucien)  and  of  Princess  Zenaide, 
daughter  of  King  Joseph  of  Spain.  His  only  surviving  brother  is 
Prince  Charles. 

This  palace  forms  one  corner  of  the  Piazza  di  Venezia,  which 
contains  the  ancient  castellated  Palace  of  the  Republic  of  Venice, 
erected  in  1468  by  Meo  del  Caprino  and  Giacomo  di  Pietrasanta, 
with  materials  plundered  from  the  Coliseum.  It  was  built  for  the 
firm,  sagacious,  and  merciful  Pope  Pius  II.,  who  was  of  Venetian 
birth.  He  built  it  as  cardinal,  and  continued  after  his  election  to 
make  it  his  chief  residence  in  preference  to  the  Vatican.  The 
Capitoline  Museum  owes  its  best  bronzes  to  the  collection  formed 
here  by  Pius  II.  On  the  ruin  of  the  republic  the  palace  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Austria,  and  is  still  the  residence  of  the  Austrian 
ambassador,  to  whom  it  was  specially  reserved  on  the  cession  of 
Venice  to  Italy. 

Opposite  this,  on  a  line  with  the  Corso,  is  the  Palazzo  Torlonia 
(formerly  Frangipani),  built  by  Fontana  in  1650  for  the  Bolognetti 
family.  The  family  of  Torlonia  was  founded  by  Giovanni,  mercer 
and  draper,  born  in  1754.  He  rose  as  a  banker  under  Pius  VI.  and 
VII.,  was  created  marquis,  duke,  and  prince,  and  united  his  sons 
and  daughters  with  princely  families. 

'  Nobility  is  certainly  more  the  fruit  of  wealth  in  Italy  than  in  England.  Here, 
where  a  title  and  estate  are  sold  together,  a  man  who  can  buy  the  one  secures 
the  other.  From  the  station  of  a  lacquey,  an  Italian  who  can  amass  riches  may 
rise  to  that  of  duke.  Thus,  Torlonia,  the  Roman  banker,  who  purchased  the 
title  and  estate  of  the  Duca  di  Bracciano,  fitted  up  the  "  Palazzo  Nuovo  di  Tor- 
lonia" with  all  the  magnificence  that  wealth  commands,  and  a  marble  gallery, 
with  its  polished  floors,  modern  statues,  painted  ceilings,  and  gilded  furniture, 

1  The  proclamation  of  James  III.  exhibited  at  the  market-cross  of  Edinburgh 
in  '45,  his  shoe-buckles,  and  the  communion  plate  of  Cardinal  York,  are  pre- 
served at  the  Scotch  College  in  Via  Quattro  Fontane. 

'^  Dr.  Wellesley's  Reminiscences. 


G8  Walks  in  Rome 

far  (lutshinea  the  fiideil  siilciulour  of  the  halls  of  ilie  olil  Koiiian  nobility.'— 
ikiton'n  '  Hiniie.' 

'  In  anclen  doinestlque  de  place,  devenu  spiculateur  et  bantiuier,  achate  un 
maniuisat,  puis  une  principautt'.  II  crte  un  niujoiat  pour  son  tils  ain6  et  une 
secomle  giiiituie  un  faveur  de  I'autre.  L'un  epoiise  une  Sforza-Cesaiini  et  marie 
808  deux  ttls  ii  une  Chici  et  une  Rnsi)oli ;  I'autre  obtient  pour  fenime  une  Colonna- 
l><)riu.  Cest  ainsi  que  la  famille  Torlonia,  par  la  puissance  de  I'argent  et  la 
faveur  du  salnt-pi;re,  s'est  61evce  pres<iue  subitenient  k  la  hauteur  des  plus 
^randes  niaisons  nepotiques  et  feodales.'— ^6(jit«. 

The  most  interesting  of  the  antiquities  preserved  in  this  palace 
is  a  bas-relief,  representing  a  combat  between  men  and  animals, 
brought  hither  from  the  Palazzo  Orsini,  and  probably  portraying 
the  famous  dedication  of  the  theatre  of  Marcellus  on  that  site, 
celebrated  by  the  slaughter  of  six  hundred  animals.  A  handsome 
suite  of  rooms,  bequeathed  to  the  town  by  Don  Giovanni  Torlonia, 
is  open  to  the  public  on  Tuesdays  and  Fridays  from  11  to  2,  and 
will  be  interesting  to  those  who  have  not  other  opportunities  of 
seeing  the  furniture  and  fittings  of  an  old  Roman  palace. 

The  end  of  the  Corso — narrowed  by  a  projecting  wing  of  the 
Venetian  Palace — was  known  as  the  Ripresa  del  Barberi,  because 
there  the  horses  which  ran  in  the  races  during  the  Carnival  were 
caught  in  large  folds  of  drapery  let  down  across  the  street  to 
prevent  their  dashing  themselves  to  pieces  against  the  opposite 
wall.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  sacrifice  the  wing  of  the 
grand  historic  palace  in  order  to  allow  a  better  view  of  the  trashy 
monument  to  Victor  Emmanuel,  to  obtain  a  site  for  which  the 
tower  of  Paul  III.,  the  noblest  ornament  of  the  Corso,  was  pulled 
down  several  years  ago. 

Close  to  the  end  of  the  street,  formerly  built  into  the  wall  of  a 
house  in  the  Via  di  Marforio,  is  one  of  the  few  relics  of  republican 
times  in  the  city — a  Doric  Tomb,  bearing  an  inscription,  which 
states  that  it  was  erected  by  order  of  the  people  on  land  granted 
by  the  Senate,  '  on  account  of  his  honours  and  worth,'  to  Caius 
P'ublicius  Bibulus,  the  plebeian  aedile,  and  his  posterity.  Petrarch 
mentions  in  one  of  his  letters  that  he  wrote  a  sonnet  leaning 
against  this  tomb. 

The  tomb  has  a  secondary  interest  as  marking  the  commencement 
of  the  Via  Flaminia,  as  it  stood  just  outside  the  Porta  Ratumena, 
from  whence  that  road  issued.  This  gate  took  its  name  from  a 
chariot-driver,  whose  horses  ran  away  during  races  at  Veii,  and  did 
not  stop  till  they  reached  this  spot,  when  they  upset  his  car  and 
killed  him.i  There  are  remains  of  another  tomb  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street.  The  Via  Flaminia,  like  the  Via  Appia,  was  once 
fringed  with  tombs.  In  the  court  of  No.  18  Via  del  Ghetarello, 
which  opens  out  of  the  Via  di  Marforio  (the  ancient  Via  Lata),  are 
some  remains  of  the  outer  wall  of  the  Forum  of  Julius  Caesar. 

The  Via  Macel  dei  Corvi,  near  this,  is  supposed  to  mark  the  site 
of  the  arch  called  Arcus  Manus  Carneae  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
Mirabilia  narrates  that  when  the  Christian  matron  Lucia  was  beaten 

1  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  viii.  42. 


II  Gesu  69 

by  order  of  Diocletian,  '  lie  that  smote  her  was  made  stone,  but  his 
hand  remained  ilesh  till  the  seventh  day,  wherefore  the  name  of 
that  place  is  called  the  Hand  of  Flesh  unto  this  day.'  In  the  Via 
Macel  dei  Corvi,  the  very  picturesque  house  of  Giulio  Romano  has 
been  recently  destroyed,  together  with  the  ascent  by  steps  to  the 
Capitol  from  the  Via  di  Marforio,  a  subject  well  known  to  artists. 

From  the  Ripressa  dei  Barberi,  a  street  passing  (1900)  under  a 
picturesque  and  lofty  arch  on  the  right  leads  to  the  back  of  the 
Venetian  Palace,  where  is  the  Church  of  S.  Marco,  originally  founded 
in  the  time  of  Constantine,  but  rebuilt  in  S33,  and  modernised  by 
Cardinal  Quirini  in  1744.  Its  portico,  which  is  lined  with  early 
Christian  inscription.s,  contains  a  fine  fifteenth-century  doorway, 
surmounted  by  a  figure  of  S.  Mark.  The  interior  is  in  the  form 
of  a  basilica,  its  naves  and  aisles  separated  by  twenty  beautiful 
columns  of  Sicilian  jasper,  and  ending  in  an  apse.  Much  of  the 
pavement  is  of  Opus  Alexandrinum,  The  best  pictures  are  S. 
Marco,  '  a  Pope  enthroned,  by  Carlo  CrivclU,  resembling  in  sharpness 
of  finish  and  individuality  the  works  of  Bartolommeo  Viviani,'^  and 
a.  Resurrection  by  Palma  Giovane. 

'  The  mosaics  of  S.  Marco,  executed  under  Pope  Gregory  IV.  (A.D.  S27-44),  with 
allltheh'  splendour,  exhil  lit  the  utmost  poverty  of  expression.  Above  the  tribune, 
in  circular  compartments,  is  the  portrait  of  Christ  between  the  symbols  of  the 
Evangelists,  and  further  below  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  (or  two  prophets)  with  scrolls  ; 
within  the  tribune,  beneath  a  hand  extended  with  a  wreath,  is  the  standing  figure 
of  Christ  with  an  open  book,  and  on  either  side,  S.  Angelo  and  Pope  Gregory  IV. 
Farther  on,  but  still  belonging  to  the  dome,  are  the  thirteen  lambs,  forming  a 
second  and  quite  uneven  circle  round  the  figures.  The  execution  is  here  especially 
rude,  and  of  true  Byzantine  rigidity,  while,  as  if  the  artist  knew  that  his  long  lean 
flgurestwere  anything  but  secure  upon  their  feet,  he  has  given  them  each  a  separate 
littlejpedestal.  The  lines  of  the  drapery  are  chiefly  straight  and  parallel,  while, 
with  all  this  rudeness,  a  certain  play  of  colour  has  been  contrived  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  high  lights  of  another  colour.' — Kugler. 

This  church  is  said  to  have  been  originally  founded  in  honour  of 
the  Evangelist  in  337  by  Pope  Marco,  but  the  Pope,  being  himself 
canonised,  is  also  honoured  here,  and  is  buried  under  the  high  altar. 
On  April  25,  S.  Mark's  Day,  a  grand  procession  of  clergy  used  to 
start  from  hence.  The  higa  of  the  Vatican  was  long  used  as  an 
episcopal  throne  in  the  choir  of  this  church. 

Behind  the  Palazzo  Venezia  is  the  vast  Church  of  II  Gesii,  begun 
in  1568  by  the  celebrated  Vignola,  but  the  cupola  and  facade  com- 
pleted in  1575  by  his  scholar  Giacomo  della  Porta.  In  tTie  interior 
is  the  monument  of  Cardinal  Bellarmin,  and  various  pictures  repre- 
senting events  in  the  lives  or  deaths  of  the  Jesuit  saints — that  of 
the  death  of  S.  Francis  Xavier  is  by  Carlo  Maratta.  The  high  altar, 
by  Giacomo  della  Porta,  has  fine  columns  of  giallo-antico.  The 
altar  of  S.  Ignatius  at  the  end  of  the  left  transept  is  of  gaudy 
magnificence.  It  was  designed  by  Padre  Pozzi,  the  group  of  the 
Trinity  being  by  Bernardino  Ludovisi  ;  the  globe  in  the  hand  of  the 


1  Kugler. 


70  Walks  in  Rome 

Almighty  is  said  to  be  the  largest  piece  of  lapis-lazuli  in  existence. 
Beneath"  this  altar,  and  his  silver  statue,  lies  the  bodj'  of  S.  Ignatius 
Loyola,  in  an  urn  of  iiilt  bronze,  adorned  with  precious  stones.  A 
great  cerenionv  takes  place  in  this  church  on  July  l^l,  the  feast  of 
S.  Ignatius  ;  and  after  vespers  on  December  31  a  Te  Deum  is  sung 
here  for  the  mercies  of  the  closing  year— a  really  solemn  and  im- 
pressive service. 

The  Convent  of  the  Gesu  is  the  residence  of  the  General  of  the 
Jesuits  ('His  Paternity'),  and  the  centre  of  religious  life  in  their 
Order.  The  rooms  in  which  S.  Ignatius  lived  and  died  are  of  the 
deepest  historical  interest.  They  consist  of  four  chambers.  The 
first,  now  a  chapel,  is  that  in  which  he  wrote  his  'Constitutions.' 
The  second,  also  a  chapel,  is  that  in  which  he  died.  It  contains  the 
altar  at  which  he  daily  celebrated  mass,  and  the  autograph  engage- 
ment to  live  under  the  same  laws  of  obedience,  poverty,  and  chas- 
tity, signed  by  Laynez,  Francis  Xavier,  and  Ignatius  Loyola.  On 
its"  walls  are  two  portraits  of  Loyola,  one  as  a  young  knight,  the 
other  as  a  Jesuit  father,  and  portraits  of  S.  Carlo  Borromeo  and  S. 
Filippo  Neri.  It  was  in  this  chamber  also  that  S.  Francis  Borgia 
died.  The  third  room  was  that  of  the  attendant  monk  of  S.  Igna- 
tius ;  the  fourth  is  now  a  kind  of  museum  of  relics,  containing 
portions  of  his  robe  and  small  articles  which  belonged  to  him  and 
to  other  saints  of  the  Order.  Loyola  prayed  that  his  Order  might 
be  persecuted,  and  his  prayer  has  been  cordially  answered. 

Facing  the  Church  of  the  Gesd  is  the  Palazzo  Altieri,  built  by 
Cardinal  Altieri  in  1G70,  from  designs  of  Giov.  Antonio  Rossi. 

'  II  palazzo  Altieri  6  indulibianiente  uno  del  piii  belli  e  piu  grandi  dl  Roma,  b 
una  residenza  da  sovrani  6  nori  da  privati.'—  SUvaffiii. 

'Quaiid  le  palais  Altieii  fut  acheve,  les  Altieri,  neveux  de  Clement  X.,  in- 
vitereiit  leur  oncle  a  le  venir  voir.  II  s'y  fit  porter,  et  d'aussi  loin  qu'il  aper^ut 
la  magnificence  et  I'entendue  de  cette  superbe  falirique,  11  rebroussa  chemiu  le 
coeur  serre,  sans  dire  un  seul  mot,  et  mourut  pen  aprfes.' — De  Brasses. 

On  the  staircase  is  the  statue  of  a  Dacian  (of  the  time  of  Trajan) 
found  under  Clement  IX.  in  the  Via  del  Governo  Veccbio,  appar- 
ently never  having  been  taken  away  from  its  original  workshop  on 
that  site. 

'  On  the  staircase  of  the  Palazzo  Altieri  is  also  an  ancient  colossal  ma,rh\e  finger,^ 
of  such  extraordinary  size  that  it  is  really  worth  a  visit.' — Mrs.  Eaton. 

The  Altieri  claim  an  origin  of  the  time  of  Constantino,  but 
probably  came  into  Italy  with  Otho  III.  Their  palace  was  the 
residence  of  the  noble-hearted  vicar-general.  Cardinal  Altieri,  who 
died  a  martyr  to  his  devotion  to  his  flock  (as  Bishop  of  Albano) 
during  the  terrible  visitation  of  cholera  at  Albano  in  1867.  Near 
the  entrance  of  the  palace  from  the  piazza  is  a  record  of  the  jus- 
tice of  Clement  X. — though  altered — the  tiny  house  of  an  old 
widow,  who  refused  to  give  up  her  hovel  of  two  rooms,  when 

I  The  finger  was  found  in  laying  the  foundations  of  the  palace. 


Piazza  del  Gesii  71 

streets,  palaces,  and  churches  were  pulled  down  to  make  room  for 
the  new  building. 

The  Piazza  del  Gesu  is  considered  to  be  the  most  draughty  place 
in  Rome.  The  legend  runs  that  the  devil  and  the  wind  were  one 
day  taking  a  walk  together.  When  they  came  to  this  square,  the 
devil,  who  seemed  to  be  very  devout,  said  to  the  wind,  'Just  wait 
a  minute,  mio  caro,  while  I  go  into  this  church.'  So  the  wind 
promised,  and  the  devil  went  into  the  Gesu,  and  has  never  come 
out  again — and  the  wind  is  blowing  about  in  the  Piazza  del  Gesii  to 
this  day. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE    CAPITOLINE 

The  Story  of  the  Uill  — I'iazza  del  Camiiidotrlio— Palace  of  the  Senator— View 
from  the  Capitol  Tower— The  Tabulariuni— Tlic  Museo  Capitolino— Gallery 
of  Statues— Palace  of  the  Conservators— fiallery  of  Pictures— Palazzo  ('afTa- 
relli  -Tarpeian  Kock  -  Convent  and  Church  of  Ara-Coeli  —  JManiertine 
Prisons. 

'I'^HE  Capitoline  was  the  liill  oi'  the  kings  and  the  republic,  as  the 
-L     Palatine  was  of  the  empire. 

Entirely  composed  of  tufa,  its  sides,  now  concealed  by  buildings 
or  by  the  accumulated  rubbish  of  ages,  were  abrupt  and  precipitous, 
as  are  still  the  sides  of  the  neighbouring  citadels  of  Corneto  and 
Cervetri.  It  was  united  to  the  Quirinal  by  an  isthmus  of  land  cut 
away  by  Trajan,  but  in  every  other  direction  was  isolated  by  its 
perpendicular  cliffs  :  — 

'  Arduus  in  valles  et  fora  clivus  erat.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  i.  2G4. 

Up  to  tiie  time  of  the  Tarquins,  the  hill  bore  the  name  of  Mens 
Saturnius,!  from  the  mythical  king  Saturn,  who  is  reported  to  have 
come  to  Italy  in  the  reign  of  Janus,  and  to  have  made  a  settlement 
here.  His  name  was  derived  from  sowing,  and  he  was  looked  upon 
as  the  introducer  of  civilisation  and  social  order,  both  of  which  are 
inseparably  connected  with  agriculture.  His  reign  here  was  thus 
considered  to  be  the  golden  age  of  Italy.  His  wife  was  Ops,  the 
representative  of  plenty.^ 

'  C'cst  la  tradition  d'un  age  de  paix  represente  par  la  rfegne  paisilile  de  Saturne  ; 
avant  qu'il  y  eut  une  Ilmna,  ville  de  la  force,  il  y  eut  une  Saturnia,  ville  de  la 
l)a.i\.'-  Ampere,  Hist.  Jiom.  i.  8ti. 

Virgil  represents  Evander,  the  mythical  king  of  the  Palatine,  as 
exhibiting  Saturnia,  already  in  ruins,  to  .ZEneas. 

'  Haec  duo  praeterea  disjectis  oppida  nuiris, 
Reliquias  veterumque  vides  nionumenta  virorum. 
Ilanc  Janus  pater,  hanc  Saturnus  condidit  arcem  ; 
Janiculum  huic,  illi  fuerat  Saturnia  nomen.' 

— .^rt.  viii.  355. 

When  Romulus  had  fixed  his  settlement  upon  the  Palatine,  he 
opened  an  asylum   for  fugitive  slaves   upon   the    then   deserted 

1  Varo,  De  Ling.  Lai.  v.  42.  2  Smith's  '  Roman  Mythology.' 


Temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus  73 

Saturnius,  and  here,  at  a  sacred  oak,  he  is  said  to  have  offered  up 
the  spoils  of  the  Caecinenses,  and  their  king  Acron,  who  had  made 
a  war  of  reprisal  upon  him,  after  the  rape  of  their  women  in  the 
Campus  Martius;  here  also  he  vowed  to  build  a  temple  to  Jupiter 
Feretrius,  where  spoils  should  always  be  offered.  But  in  the  mean- 
time the  Sabines,  under  Titus  Tatius,  besieged  and  took  the  hill, 
having  a  gate  of  its  fortress  (said  to  have  been  on  the  ascent  above 
the  spot  where  the  Arch  of  Severus  now  stands)  opened  to  them  by 
Tarpeia,  who  gazed  with  longing  upon  the  golden  bracelets  of  the 
warriors,  and,  obtaining  a  promise  to  receive  that  which  they  wore 
upon  their  arms,  was  crushed  by  their  shields  as  they  entered.^ 
Some  authorities,  however,  maintain  that  she  asked  and  obtained 
the  hand  of  King  Tatius.  From  this  time  the  hill  was  completely 
occupied  by  the  Sabines,  and  its  name  became  partially  merged  in 
that  of  Mens  Tarpeia,  which  its  southern  side  has  always  retained. 
Niebuhr  states  that  it  is  a  popular  superstition  that  the  beautiful 
Tarpeia  still  sits,  sparkling  with  gold  and  jewels,  enchanted  and 
motionless,  in  a  cave  in  the  centre  of  the  hill. 

After  the  death  of  Tatius,  the  Capitoline  again  fell  under  the 
government  of  Romulus,  and  his  successor,  Numa  Pompilius,  founded 
here  a  Temple  of  Fides  Publica,  in  which  the  flamens  were  always 
to  sacrifice  with  a  fillet  on  their  right  hands,  in  sign  of  iidelity.  To 
Numa  also  is  attributed  the  worship  of  the  god  Terminus,  who  had 
a  temple  here  in  very  early  ages. 

Under  Tarquinius  Superbus,  B.C.  535,  the  magnificent  Temple  of 
Jupiter  Capitolinus,  which  had  been  vowed  by  his  father,  was  built 
with  money  taken  from  the  Volscians  in  war.  In  digging  its 
foundations,  the  head  of  a  man  was  found,  still  bloody,  an  omen 
which  was  interpreted  by  an  Etruscan  augur  to  portend  that  Rome 
would  become  the  head  of  Italy.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  name 
of  the  hill  was  once  more  changed,  and  has  ever  since  been  Mons 
Capitolinus,  or  Capitolium. 

The  site  of  this  temple  has  always  been  one  of  the  vexed  ques- 
tions of  history.  At  the  time  it  was  built,  as  now,  the  hill  consisted 
of  two  peaks,  with  a  level  space  between  them.  Niebuhr  and 
Gregorovius  place  the  temple  on  the  south-eastern  height,  but 
Canina  and  other  authorities  incline  to  the  north-eastern  eminence, 
the  present  site  of  Ara-Coeli,  because,  among  many  other  reasons, 
the  temple  faced  the  south,  and  also  the  Forum,  which  it  could  not 
have  done  upon  the  south-eastern  summit ;  and  also  because  the 
citadel  is  always  represented  as  having  been  nearer  to  the  Tiber 
than  the  temple:  for  when  Herdonius,  and,  at  a  later  time,  the 
Gauls,  arriving  by  the  river,  scaled  the  heights  of  the  Capitol,  it 
was  the  citadel  which  barred  their  path,  and  in  which,  in  the  latter 
case,  Manlius  was  awakened  by  the  noise  of  the  sacred  geese 
of  Juno.  The  remains  of  an  important  building,  discovered  in 
November  1875  on  the  south-eastern  eminence,  are  in  favour  of 
that  site  :  but  the  question  is  still  undecided. 

1  Propertius,  El.  iv.  4  ;  Varro,  Dc  Ling.  Lat.  v.  41. 


74  Walks  in  Rome 

The  temple  of  Jupiter  occupied  a  lofty  platform,  the  summit  of 
the  rock  being  levelled  to  receive  it.  Its  fa9ade  was  decorated 
with  three  ranges  of  columns,  and  its  sides  by  a  single  colonnade. 
It  was  nearly  .square,  being  200  Roman  feet  in  length,  and  185  in 
widtii.i  The  interior  was  divided  into  three  cells  ;  the  figure  of 
Jupiter  occupied  that  in  the  centre,  Minerva  was  on  his  right,  and 
Juno  on  his  left.  The  figure  of  Jupiter  was  the  work  of  an  artist 
of  the  Volscian  city  of  Fregellae,-  and  was  formed  of  terrra-cotta, 
painted  like  the  statues  which  we  may  still  s(;e  in  the  Etruscan 
museum  at  the  Vatican,  and  clothed  with  the  tunica  palmata  and 
the  toga  picta,  the  costume  of  victorious  generals.  In  his  right 
hand  was  a  thunderbolt,  and  in  his  left  a  spear. 

'  .lupiter  angusta  vix  totus  stabat  in  aede  ; 
Inque  Jovis  dextra  fictile  fulnien  erat.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  i.  202. 

At  a  later  period  the  statue  was  formed  of  gold,  but  this  figure 
had  ceased  to  exist  in  the  time  of  Pliny.*  When  Martial  wrote,  the 
statues  of  Jupiter,  Juno,  and  Minerva  were  all  gilt. 

'Scriptus  es  aeterno  nunc  primuni,  .Jupiter,  auro, 
Et  soror,  et  sutnmi  tilia  tota  patris.' 

—Martial,  Ep.  xi.  5. 

In  the  wall  adjoining  the  cella  of  Minerva,  a  nail  was  fastened 
every  year,  to  mark  the  lapse  of  time.'*  In  the  centre  of  the  temple 
was  the  statue  of  Terminus. 

'  The  sumptuous  fane  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus  had  peculiar  claims  on  the  venera- 
tion of  the  Roman  citizens ;  for  not  only  the  great  lord  of  the  earth  was  wor- 
shipped in  it,  but  the  conservative  principle  of  property  itself  found  therein  its 
appropriate  symbol.  While  the  statiie  of  Jupiter  occupied  the  usual  place  of 
the  divinity  in  the  farthest  recess  of  the  building,  an  image  of  the  god  Terminus 
was  also  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  nave,  which  was  open  to  the  heavens.  A 
venerable  legend  affirmed  that  when,  in  the  time  of  the  kings,  it  was  requisite 
to  clear  a  space  on  the  Capitoline  to  erect  on  it  a  temple  to  the  great  father  of 
the  gods,  and  the  shrines  of  the  lesser  divinities  were  to  be  removed  for  the  pur- 
pose, Terminus  alone,  the  patron  of  boundaries,  refused  to  quit  his  place,  and 
demanded  to  be  included  in  the  walls  of  the  new  edifice.  Thus  propitiated,  he 
was  understood  to  declare  that  henceforth  the  bounds  of  the  republic  should 
never  be  removed  ;  and  the  pledge  was  more  than  fulfilled  by  the  ever-increasing 
circuit  of  her  dominion." — Merivale,  '  Romans  under  the  Empire.' 

The  gates  of  the  temple  were  of  gilt  bronze,  and  its  pavement  of 
mosaic;'''  in  a  vault  beneath  were  preserved  the  Sibylline  books, 
placed  there  by  Tarquin.  The  building  of  Tarquin  lasted  400  years, 
and  was  burnt  down  in  the  civil  wars,  B.C.  83.  It  was  rebuilt  very 
soon  afterwards  by  Sulla,  and  adorned  with  columns  of  Pentelic 
marble,  which  he  had  brought  from  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Olympius 
at  Athens.''  Sulla,  however,  did  not  live  to  re-dedicate  it,  and  it  was 
finished  by  Q.  Lutatius  Catulus,  B.C.  62.  This  temple  lasted  till  it 
was  burnt  to  the  ground  by  the  soldiers  of  Vitellius,  who  set  fire  to 


1  Vitruvius,  iv.  7.  1.  2  PHny,  xxxv.  12. 

3  Pliny,  vii.  39.  4  Livy,  vii.  3. 

5  Pliny,  xxxiii.  18.  6  Pliny,  xxxvl.  5. 


The  Arx  75 

it  by  throwing  torches  upon  the  portico,  A.D.  69,  and  dragging  forth 
Sabinus,  the  brother  of  Vespasian,  murdered  him  at  the  foot  of  the 
Capitol,  near  the  Mamertine  Prisons.'  Domitian,  the  younger  son 
of  Vespasian,  was,  at  that  time,  in  the  temple  with  his  uncle,  and 
escaped  in  the  dress  of  a  priest ;  in  commemoration  of  which  he 
erected  a  chapel  to  Jupiter  Conservator,  close  to  the  temple,  with 
an  altar  upon  which  his  adventure  was  sculptured.  The  temple  was 
rebuilt  by  Vespasian,  who  took  so  great  an  interest  in  the  work  that 
he  carried  away  some  of  the  rubbish  on  his  own  shoulders  ;  but  his 
temple  was  the  exact  likeness  of  its  predecessor,  only  higher,  as 
the  aruspices  said  that  the  gods  would  not  allow  it  to  be  altered." 
In  this  building  Titus  and  Vespasian  celebrated  their  triumph  after 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  The  ruin  of  the  temple  began  in  A.D.  404, 
during  the  short  visit  of  the  youthful  Emperor  Honorius  to  Rome, 
when  the  plates  of  gold  which  lined  its  doors  were  stripped  off 
by  Stilicho.*  It  was  finally  plundered  by  the  Vandals  in  A.D.  455, 
when  its  statues  were  carried  off  to  adorn  the  African  palace  of 
Genseric,  and  half  its  roof  was  stripped  of  the  gilt  bronze  tiles 
which  covered  it ;  but  it  is  not  known  precisely  when  it  ceased  to 
exist — the  early  fathers  of  the  Christian  Church  speak  of  having 
seen  it.  The  story  that  the  bronze  statue  of  Jupiter,  belonging  to 
this  temple,  was  transformed  by  Leo  I.  into  the  famous  image  of 
S.  Peter,  is  quite  disproved. 

Close  beside  this,  the  queen  of  Roman  temples,  stood  the  Temple 
of  Fides,  said  to  have  been  founded  by  Numa,  where  the  senate 
were  assembled  at  the  time  of  the  murder  of  Tiberius  Gracchus, 
B.C.  133,  who  fell  in  front  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter,  at  the  foot  of 
the  statues  of  the  kings — his  blood  being  the  first  spilt  in  Rome  in 
a  civil  war.'*  Near  this,  also,  were  the  twin  temples  of  Mars  and 
Venus  Erycina,  vowed  after  the  battle  of  Thrasymene,  and  conse- 
crated, B.C.  215,  by  the  consuls  R.  Fabius  Maximus  and  T.  Otacilius 
Crassus.  Near  the  top  of  the  Clivus  was  the  Temple  of  Jupiter 
Tonans,  built  by  Augustus,  in  consequence  of  a  vow  which  he  made 
in  an  expedition  against  the  Cantabri,  when  his  litter  was  struck, 
and  the  slave  who  preceded  him  was  killed  by  lightning.  This 
temple  was  so  near,  that  it  was  considered  as  a  porch  to  that  of 
Jupiter  Capitolinus,  and,  in  token  of  that  character,  Augustus  hung 
some  bells  upon  its  pediment. 

On  the  Arx,  or  height  of  the  Capitol  opposite  to  that  which  was 
occupied  by  the  Temple  of  Jupiter,  was  the  temple  of  Honour  and 
Virtue,  built  B.C.  103,  by  Marius,  with  the  spoils  taken  in  the 
Cimbric  wars.  The  temple  was  of  sufficient  size  to  allow  of  the 
senate  meeting  there,  to  pass  the  decree  for  Cicero's  recall.^  Here 
Nardini  places  the  ancient  Temple  of  Jupiter  Feretrius,  in  which 


1  Tacitus,  Hist.  Hi.  74. 

2  Tacitus,  Hist.  iv.  53. 

3  Zosimus,  lib.  v.  c.  38. 

4  Valerius  Maximus,  ii.  3.  3. 

5  Vitruvius,  iii.  2,  5  ;  Propertius,  iv.  11,  45 ;  Cic.  Pro  Plane.  32. 


7(',  Walks  in  Rome 

Hoiiiuhis  dedicated  the  first  spolia  opima.  Here,  on  tlie  site  of  the 
iioiise  of  Manliiis,  was  built  the  Temple  of  Juno  Moneta,  B.C.  345, 
in  ai-coniance  with  a  vow  of  L.  P'urius  Camillus.^  It  was  a  little 
temple  u.^ied  as  a  mint,  whence  our  word  '  money.'  On  this  height, 
also,  was  the  altar  of  Jupiter  Pistor,  which  commemorated  the 
stratagem  of  the  Romans,  who  threw  down  loaves  into  the  camp  of 
the  V)esieging  Gauls,  to  deceive  them  as  to  the  state  of  their 
supplies.- 

'  Nomine,  quam  pretio,  celebratior  arce  Toiiaiitis, 
Dicani  Pistoris  quifl  velit  ara  Jovis.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  vi.  349. 

It  was  probably  also  on  this  side  of  the  hill  that  the  gigantic 
statue  of  Jupiter  stood,  which  was  formed  out  of  the  armour  taken 
from  the  Samnites,  B.C.  298,  and  which  is  stated  by  Pliny  to  have 
been  of  such  a  size  that  it  was  visible  from  the  top  of  Monte  Cavi. 

Two  cliffs  are  now  rival  claimants  to  be  considered  as  the  Tarpeian 
Rock  ;  but  it  is  most  probable  that  the  whole  of  the  hill  on  this 
side  of  the  Intermontium  was  called  the  Mons  Tarpeius,  and  was 
celebrated  under  that  name  by  the  poets. 

'  In  s\inirao  custos  Tarpeiae  Manlius  arcis 
Stabat  pro  teniplo,  et  Capitolia  celsa  tenebat : 
Roniuko(iuu  rutins  lioi-rebat  regia  culnio. 
Atque  hie  auratis  volitans  argenteus  anser 
Porticibus  Gallos  in  limine  adesse  canebat.' 

—  Virgil,  A  en.  viii.  652. 

'  Aurea  Tarpeia  ponet  Capitolia  rupe, 
Et  junget  nostro  templorum  culniinacoelo.' 

—Sil.  Ital.  iii.  623. 

'  .  .  .  juvat  inter  tecta  Tonantis 
Cernere  Tarpeia  pendentes  rupe  Gigantes.' 

— Claitd.  vi.  CoiM.  Hon.  44. 

Among  the  buildings  upon  the  Intermontium,  or  space  between 
the  two  heights,  were  the  Tabulariiim.  or  Record  Ofiice,  part  of 
which  still  remains  ;  a  portico  built  by  Scipio  Nasica,^  and  an  arch 
which  Nero  built  here  to  his  own  honour,  the  erection  of  which, 
upon  the  sacred  hill  hitherto  devoted  to  the  gods,  was  regarded  even 
by  the  subservient  senate  as  an  unparalleled  act  of  presumption.* 

In  the  mediaeval  times  the  revolutionary  government  of  Arnold 
of  Brescia  established  itself  on  this  hill  (1144),  and  Pope  Lucius  II., 
attempting  to  regain  his  temporal  power,  was  slain  with  a  stone  in 
attacking  it.  Here  Petrarch  received  his  laurel  crown  (1341) ;  and 
here  the  tribune  Rienzi  promulgated  the  laws  of  the  '  good  estate.' 
At  this  time  nothing  existed  on  the  Capitol  but  the  church  and 
convent  of  Ara-Coeli  and  a  few  ruins.  Yet  the  cry  of  the  people  at 
the  coronation  of  Petrarch,  '  Long  life  to  ike  Capitol  and  the  poet ! ' 

1  I-ivy,  vi.  20. 

■-  Livy,  V.  48. 

3  Velleius  Paterc.  ii.  3. 

*  See  Merivale,  'IJixt.  of  the  Hoiiianx'  vol.  vi. 


La  Cordonnata  77 

shows  that  the  scene  itself  was  then  still  more  present  to  their 
minds  than  the  principal  actor  upon  it.  But,  when  the  Popes 
returned  from  Avignon,  the  very  memory  of  the  Capitol  seemed 
effaced,  and  the  spot  was  only  known  as  the  Goat's  Hill — Monte 
Caprino.  Pope  Boniface  IX.  (1389-94)  was  the  first  to  erect  on 
the  Capitol,  on  the  ruins  of  the  Tabularium,  a  residence  for  the 
senator  and  his  assessors.  Paul  III.  (1544-50)  employed  Michel- 
angelo to  lay  out  the  Piazza  del  Campidoglio,  and  the  Capitoline 
Museum  and  the  Palace  of  the  Conservators  were  designed  by  him. 
Pius  IV.,  Gregory  XIII.,  and  Sixtus  V.  added  the  sculptures  and 
other  monuments  which  now  adorn  the  steps  and  balustrade.^ 


Just  beyond  the  end  of  the  Corso  the  Via  Giulio  Romano,  formerly 
della  Pedacchia,  turns  to  the  right,  under  a  quaint  archway  in  the 
secret  passage  constructed  as  a  means  of  escape  for  the  Franciscan 
Generals  of  Ara-Coeli  to  the  Palazzo  Venezia,  as  that  in  the  Borgo 
is  for  the  escape  of  the  Popes  to  S.  Angelo.  In  this  street  is  a  house 
decorated  with  simple  but  elegant  Doric  details,  and  bearing  an  in- 
scription over  the  door  which  shows  that  it  was  that  of  Pietro  da 
Cortona. 

The  street  ends  in  the  sunny  open  space  at  the  foot  of  the  Capitol, 
with  Ara-Coeli  on  its  left,  approached  by  an  immense  flight  of  steps, 
removed  hither  from  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  on  the  Quirinal.  It 
does  not,  however,  as  has  been  often  stated,  mark  the  site  of  the 
famous  staircase  to  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  which  Julius 
Caesar  descended  on  his  knees,  after  his  triumph  for  his  Gallic 
victories.  Till  the  fourteenth  century  there  was  no  access  whatever 
to  the  Capitol  from  this  side  of  the  Campus  Martius.  The  staircase 
was  renewed  in  1887,  and  has  lost  all  the  interest  of  antiquity. 

The  grand  staircase,  'La  Cordonnata,'  was  opened  in  its  present 
form  on  the  occasion  of  the  entry  of  Charles  V.  in  1536.^  At  its 
foot  were  two  lions  of  Egyptian  porphyry,  which  were  removed 
hither  from  the  Church  of  S.  Stefano  in  Cacco  by  Pius  IV.  These 
are  now  taken  to  the  Capitoline  Museum,  and  replaced  by  copies. 
It  was  down  the  first  staircase  which  existed  on  this  site  that 
Rienzi,  the  tribune,  fled  in  his  last  moments,  and  close  to  the  spot 
where  the  left-hand  lion  stands  that  he  fell,  covered  with  wounds, 
his  wife  witnessing  his  death  from  a  window  of  the  burning  palace 
above.  A  small  space  between  the  two  staircases  has  lately  been 
transformed  into  a  garden,  through  which  access  may  be  obtained 
to  four  vaulted  brick  chambers,  said  by  some  to  be  remnants  of  the 
substructions  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus.  In  this  garden 
living  wolves  are  kept,  to  commemorate  the  nurse  of  Romulus.  A 
modern  statue  of  Rienzi  is  by  Masini. 

At  the  head  of  the  stairs  are  colossal  statues  of  the  twin  heroes, 


1  Dyer's  '  Rome,'  407,  408,  409. 

2  When  four  hundred  houses  and  three  or  four  churches  were  levelled  to  tlie 
ground  to  make  a  road  for  liis  triumphal  approach. — Rabelais,  Lettre  viii.  p.  21. 


78  Walks  in  Rome 

Castor  and  Pollux  (brought  hither  in  1583  from  the  Ghetto),  com- 
incmoraiing  the  victory  of  the  Lake  Regillus,  after  which  they  rode 
before  the  army  to  Rome,  to  announce  the  joyful  news,  watered 
their  horses  at  the  Aqua  Argentina,  and  then  passed  away  from 
the  gaze  of  the  multitude  into  celestial  spheres.  Beyond  these,  on 
either  side,  are  two  trophies  of  imperial  times,  discovered  (1590)  in 
the  ruin  on  the  Esquiline,  misnamed  the  Trophies  of  Marius,  which 
was  thecastellum  of  the  Aqua  Julia.  Next  come  statues  of  Con- 
stantine  the  Great  and  his  son  Constantine  II.  from  their  Baths  on 
the  Qiiirinal.  The  two  ends  of  the  parapet  are  occupied  by  ancient 
Milliaria,  being  the  first  and  seventh  milestones  of  the  Appian  Way. 
The  first  milestone  was  found  hi  situ,  and  showed  that  the  miles 
counted  from  the  gates  of  Rome,  and  not,  as  was  formerly  supposed, 
from  the  Milliarium  Aureum,  at  the  foot  of  the  Capitol. 

We  now  find  ourselves  in  the  Piazza  del  Campidoglio,  occupying 
the  Intermontium,  where  L'-utus  harangued  the  people  after  the 
murder  of  Julius  Caesar.  In  the  centre  of  the  square  is  the  famous 
Statue  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  the  most  perfect  ancient  equestrian 
statue  in  existence.  It  was  originally  gilt,  as  may  still  be  seen 
from  marks  of  gilding  upon  the  figure,  said,  without  certain  founda- 
tion, to  have  stood  in  front  of  tl:e  Arch  of  Septimius  Severus.  In 
the  time  of  Sergius  III.  it  was  in  front  of  the  Lateran,  where,  not 
long  after,  it  was  put  to  a  singular  use  by  John  XII.,  who  hung  a 
refractory  prefect  of  the  city  from  it  by  his  hair.^  During  the  re- 
joicings consequent  upon  the  elevation  of  Rienzi  to  the  tribuneship 
in  1347,  one  of  its  nostrils  was  made  to  flow  with  water  and  the 
other  with  wine.  From  its  vicinity  to  the  Lateran,  so  intimately 
connected  with  the  history  of  Constantine,  it  was  supposed  during 
the  Middle  Ages  to  represent  that  Christian  emperor,"  and  this  for- 
tunate error  alone  preserved  it  from  the  destruction  which  befell  so 
many  other  ancient  imperial  statues.  Michelangelo,  when  he  de- 
signed the  buildings  of  the  Capitoline  Piazza,  wished  to  remove  the 
statue  to  its  present  site,  but  the  canons  of  the  Lateran  were  un- 
willing to  part  with  their  treasure,  and  only  consented  to  its  removal 
in  1538,  upon  an  annual  acknowledgment  of  their  proprietorship, 
for  which  a  bunch  of  flowers  is  still  presented  once  a  year  by  the 
senators  to  the  chapter  of  the  Lateran.  Michelangelo,  standing  in 
fixed  admiration  before  this  statue,  is  said  to  have  bidden  the  horse 
'  Cammina.'  Even  until  late  years  an  especial  guardian  has  been 
appointed  to  take  care  of  it,  with  an  annual  stipend  of  ten  scudi, 
and  the  title  of  '  II  Custode  del  Cavallo.'  The  pedestal,  with  the 
disregard  for  antiquities  which  characterised  all  the  great  masters 
of  the  cinque-cento,  was  made  by  Michelangelo  out  of  one  of  the 
pillars  of  the  temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux, 

'  They  stood  awhile  to  contemplate  the  bronze  equestrian  statue  of  Marcus 
Aurelius.    The  moonlight  glistened  upon  traces  of  the  gilding  which  had  once 


1  Dyer's  '  Citfi  of  Rome,'  p.  379. 

2  The  Mirabiiia(xni.  c.)  says  that,  when  at  the  Lateran,  the  statue  was  called 
by  the  pilgrims  Theodoric,  by  the  people  Constantine,  and  by  the  clergy  Marcus 
or  Quintus  Curtius. 


The  Tower  of  the  Capitol  79 

covered  both  rider  and  steed  ;  these  were  almost  gone,  but  the  aspect  of  dignity 
was  still  perfect,  clothing  the  figure,  as  it  were,  with  an  imperial  robe  of  light. 
It  is  the  most  majestic  representation  of  the  kingly  character  that  ever  the 
world  has  seen.  A  sight  of  the  old  heathen  emperor  is  enough  to  create  an 
evanescent  sentiment  of  loyalty  even  in  a  democratic  bosom,  so  august  does  he 
look,  so  fit  to  rule,  so  worthy  of  man's  profoundest  homage  and  obedience,  so 
inevitably  attractive  of  his  love.  He  stretches  forth  his  hand  with  an  air  of 
proud  magnificence  and  unlimited  authority,  as  if  uttering  a  decree  from  which 
no  appeal  was  permissible,  but  in  which  the  obedient  subject  would  find  his 
highest  interests  consulted;  a  command  that  was  in  itself  a  benediction.' — 
Haivthonie. 

'  I  often  ascend  the  Capitoline  Hill  to  look  at  Marcus  Aurelius  and  his  horse, 
and  have  not  been  able  to  refrain  from  caressing  the  lions  of  basalt.  You 
cannot  stand  on  the  Aventine  or  the  Palatine  without  grave  thoughts,  but 
standing  on  the  spot  brings  me  very  little  nearer  the  image  of  past  ages.' — 
Niebuhr's  Letters. 

'  La  statue  equestre  de  Marc-Aurele  a  aussi  sa  legende,  et  celle-la  n'est  pas  du 
nioyen  age,  mais  elle  a  ete  recueillie  il  y  a  pen  d'ann^es  de  la  bouche  dun  jeune 
Romain.  La  dorure,  en  partie  detruite,  se  voit  encore  en  quelques  endroits.  A 
en  croire  le  jeune  Roniain,  cependant,  la  dorure,  au  lieu  d'aller  s'effa^ant  tou- 
jours  davantage,  etait  en  voie  de  progr^s.  "  Voyez,  disait-il,  la  statue  de  bronze 
commence  i  se  dorer.  et  quand  elle  le  sera  entierement,  le  monde  flnira." — C'est 
toujours,  sous  une  forme  absurde,  la  vieille  idee  romaine,  que  les  destinees  et 
I'existence  de  Rome  sont  liees  aux  destinies  et  ti  I'existence  du  monde.  C'est  ce 
qui  faisait  dire  au  septieme  siecle,  ainsi  que  les  pfelerins  saxonsl'avaiententendu 
et  le  r6p6taient  :  "  Quand  le  Colis6e  tombera,  Rome  et  le  monde  flniront."  ' — 
Ampere,  Emp.  ii.  228. 

'  Marcus  Aurelius  is  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  character  in  history.  He  is 
one  of  those  consoling  and  hope-inspiring  marks,  which  stand  for  ever  to  remind 
our  weak  and  easily-discouraged  race  how  high  human  goodness  and  persever- 
ance have  once  been  carried,  and  may  be  carried  again.  .  .  .  The  record  of  him 
on  which  his  fame  chiefly  rests  is  the  record  of  his  inward  life — his  "  Journal  " — 
a  priceless  treasure  for  those  who  seek  eagerly  for  that  substratum  of  right 
thinking  and  right  doing,  which  in  all  ages  must  surely  have  somewhere  existed. 
"  From  my  mother  I  learnt  piety  and  beneficence,  and  abstinence  not  only  from 
evil  deeds  but  from  evil  thoughts  ;  and  further,  simplicity  in  my  way  of  living, 
far  removed  from  the  habits  of  the  rich.  From  my  tutor  I  learnt  (hear  it,  ye 
tutors  of  princes  !)  endurance  of  labour,  and  to  want  little,  and  to  work  with  my 
own  hands,  and  not  to  meddle  with  other  people's  affairs,  and  not  to  be  ready  to 
listen  to  slander.' — Mattheio  Arnold. 

The  building  at  the  back  of  the  piazza  is  the  Palace  of  the  Senator, 
originally  built  by  Boniface  IX.  (1389),  but  altered  by  Michelangelo 
to  correspond  with  the  buildings  on  either  side.  He  intended  to 
have  a  portico  surmounted  by  statues  at  the  summit  of  the  stairs. 
The  fountain  at  the  foot  of  the  double  staircase  was  erected  by 
Sixtus  v.,  and  is  adorned  with  statues  of  river-gods  found  in  the 
Colonna  Gardens,  and  a  curious  porphyry  figure  of  Minerva — 
adapted  as  Rome.  The  body  of  this  statue  was  found  at  Cori,  but 
the  head  and  arms  are  modern  additions. 

'  Rome  personnifl6e,  cette  d^esse  a  laquelle  on  6rigea  des  temples,  voulut 
d'abord  etre  une  Amazone,  ce  qui  se  congoit,  car  elle  etait  guerrifere  avant  tout. 
C'est  sous  la  forme  de  Minerveque  Rome  est  assise  sur  la  place  du  Capitole.'— 
Ampere,  Hist.  Horn.  iii.  242. 

The  To'wrer  of  the  Capitol,  built  1579,  from  designs  of  Martino 
Longhi,  contains  the  great  bell  of  Viterbo,  carried  oflE  from  that 
town   during  the  wars  of  the  Middle  Ages,  which  is  never  rung 


so  Walks  in  Rome 

except  to  announce  the  death  of  a  sovereign  or  the  opening  of  the 
Carnival.  The  ascent  of  the  tower  is  well  repaid  by  the  view  from 
the  summit,  which  embraces  not  only  the  seven  hills  of  Rome, 
but  the  various  towns  and  villages  of  the  neighbouring  plain  and 
mountains  which  successively  fell  under  its  dominion. 

'Pour  suivre  les  vicissitudes  des  hittes  extiirieures  des  Romains  contre  les 
pi-uplfs  (lui  les  eiitourent  et  les  presscnt  de  tous  cotes,  nous  n'aurous  ((u'i'i  regarder 
n  riiorlzon  la  sublime  caiiipagne  roniaine  et  ces  niontagnes  qui  I'encadrent  si 
aihuiialileuieiit.  Elles  sout  encore  plus  belles  et  Voiil  prend  encore  plus  de 
I)laisir  h.  les  contenipler  qunnd  on  songe  k  ce  (ju'elles  ont  vu  d'effovts  et  de 
coinage  dans  les  premiers  temps  de  la  republique.  II  n'est  presque  pas  un  point 
di-  iitte  campagne  qui  n'ait  etc  tenioin  de  quelqne  rencontre  glorieuse  ;  il  n'est 
lir(S(|\ic  i)as  un  rocher  de  ces  niontagnes  qui  n'ait  t5te  pris  et  repris  vingt  fois. 

•  Tontes  ces  nations  sabelliques  qui  doniinaient  la  ville  du  Tibre  et  semblaient 
placees  la  sur  des  hauteurs  disposees  en  demi-cerc-le  pour  I'envelopper  et  I'ocraser, 
toules  ces  nations  sont  devant  nous  et  h  la  portce  du  regard. 

'Voici  du  c6tt5  de  la  nier  les  niontagnes  des  Volsques ;  plus  b,  Test  sont  les 
Hertuques  et  les  Aeques ;  an  noid,  les  Sabins  ;  k  I'ouest,  d'autres  enneniis,  les 
Ktrusques,  dont  le  mont  Ciminus  est  le  rempart. 

'  All  sud,  la  plaine  se  prolonge  jusqu'i  la  mer.  Ici  sont  les  Latins,  qui,  n'ayant 
pas  de  niontagnes  pour  leur  servir  de  citadelle  et  de  refuge,  conimenceront  par 
itre  des  allies. 

'  Nous  pouvons  done  embrasser  le  panorama  historique  des  premiers  combats 
qu'eurent  a  soutenir  et  que  soutinrent  si  vaillamment  les  Romains  affranchis.'— 
Ampire,  Flint.  Rom.  ii.  373. 

'  Possis  nihil  urbe  Roma 
Visere  niajus. ' 

—Ilor.  Car.  Sec.  iii. 

Beneath  the  Palace  of  the  Senator  (entered  by  a  door  in  the 
street  on  the  right)  are  the  gigantic  remains  of  the  Tabularium, 
consisting  of  huge  rectangular  blocks  of  peperino  supporting  a 
Doric  colonnade,  which  is  shown  by  an  inscription  still  preserved 
to  have  been  that  of  the  Public  Record  Office,  where  the  Tabulae, 
engraved  plates  bearing  important  decrees  of  the  Senate,  were 
preserved,  having  been  placed  there  by  Q.  Lutatius  Catulus  in  B.C. 
79.  The  lower  part  of  the  wall  is  built  from  the  peperino  known  as 
Lapis  Gabinus,  and  is  as  fresh  as  ever  ;  the  upper  portion,  of  Alban 
stone,  is  less  well  preserved.  A  gallery  (open  daily  10-3,  50  c. )  in 
the  interior  of  the  Tabularium  has  been  fitted  up  as  a  museum  of 
architectural  antiquities  collected  from  the  neighbouring  temples. 
This  building  is,  as  it  were,  the  boundary  between  inhabited  Rome 
and  that  Rome  which  is  a  city  of  ruins. 

'  I  came  to  the  Capitol,  and  looked  down  on  the  other  side.  There  before  my 
eyes  opened  an  immense  grave,  and  out  of  the  grave  rose  a  city  of  monuments 
ill  ruins,  columns,  triumphal  arches,  temples,  and  palaces,  broken,  ruinous,  but 
still  beautiful  and  grand, — with  a  solemn  mournful  beauty  I  It  was  the  giant 
apparition  of  ancient  Rome." — Frederika  Bremer. 

Sixty-four  steps  of  an  ancient  staircase  still  exist,  which  led 
down  from  the  Tabularium  to  the  Forum.  They  are  as  sharp  and 
perfect  as  when  they  were  built,  mainly  owing  to  the  disuse  of  this 
approach  caused  by  Domitian,  who  built  the  existing  temple  of 
Vespasian  close  against  the  Tabularium  in  such  a  way  that   the 


The  Museo  Capitolino  81 

cella  of  the  Temple  completely  blocked  up  the  only  lower  entrance 
to  the  staircase. 1 

The  east  side  of  the  piazza — on  the  left  as  one  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  steps — is  occupied  by  the  Museo  Capitolino,  chiefly 
built  under  Innocent  X.  (open  daily  from  10  to  3,  for  a  fee  of 
50  c,  and  on  Sundays  gratis).  The  museum  was  founded  in  1471 
by  Sixtus  IV.  (Riario  della  Rovere),  when  the  famous  collection 
of  bronzes  previously  kept  at  the  Lateran  was  removed  to  it. 

Above  the  fountain  in  the  court,  o})posite  the  entrance,  reclines 
the  colossal  statue  of  a  river-god,  called  Marforio,  removed  hither 
from  the  end  of  the  Via  di  Marforio  (Forum  Martis  ?),  near  the  Arch 
of  Severus.  This  figure,  according  to  Roman  fancy,  was  the  friend 
and  gossip  of  Pasquino  (at  the  Palazzo  Braschi),  and  lively  dia- 
logues, merciless  to  the  follies  of  the  Government  and  the  times, 
used  to  appear  with  early  morning,  placarded  on  their  respective 
pedestals,  as  passing  between  the  two.  Thus,  when  Clement  XI. 
mulcted  Rome  of  numerous  sums  to  send  to  his  native  Urbino, 
Marforio  asked,  '  What  is  Pasquino  doing  ? '  The  next  morning 
Pasquino  answered,  '  I  am  taking  care  of  Rome,  that  it  does  not  go 
away  to  Urbino.'  In  the  desire  of  putting  an  end  to  such  incon- 
venient remarks,  the  Government  ordered  the  removal  of  one  of 
the  statues  to  the  Capitol,  and  since  Marforio  has  been  shut  up, 
Pasquino  has  lost  his  spirits.  Here  are  now  the  two  basalt  Egyp- 
tian lions  from  the  foot  of  the  Capitol  steps. 

From  the  corridor  on  the  ground  floor,  on  the  left,  open  several 
rooms  devoted  to  ancient  inscriptions  and  sarcophagi  with  bas- 
reliefs.  In  the  1st  Room  are  very  ancient  mosaics  brought  hither 
from  S.  Antonio  Abbate  on  the  Esquiline.  The  principal  one 
represents  a  tiger  tearing  a  bull,  being  a  relic  of  the  Basilica  of 
Junius  Bassus,  which  occupied  the  site  of  the  monastic  cloisters. 

'  Pope  Simplicius  (46S-4S3)  transformed  the  Basilica  of  Junius  Bassus  into  the 
Chinch  of  S.  Andrea.  The  faitliful,  raising  their  eyes  towards  the  tribune,  could 
see  the  figures  of  Christ  and  His  apostles  in  mosaic  ;  turning  to  the  side  walls, 
they  could  see  Nero,  Galba,  and  six  other  Konian  emperors,  Diana  hunting  the 
stag,  Hylas  stolen  by  the  nymphs,  Cybele  in  the  chariot  drawn  by  lions,  a  lion 
attacking  a  centaur,  the  chariot  of  Apollo,  figures  performing  mysterious 
Egyptian  rites,  and  other  such  profanities,  represented  in  opus  sextile  marmoremn, 
a  sort  of  Florentine  mosaic.  This  unique  set  of  intarsios  was  destroyed  in  the 
sixteenth  century  by  the  French  Antonian  monks  for  a  reason  worth  relating. 
They  believed  that  the  glutinous  substance  by  which  the  layers  of  marble  or 
mother-of-pearl  was  kept  fast  was  an  excellent  remedy  against  the  ague  ;  hence 
every  time  one  of  them  was  attacked  by;fever,  a  portion  of  these  marvellous 
works  was  sacrificed." — Lanciani. 

'  Le  tigre  en  mosaique  conserve  dans  I'eglise  de  S.  Antoine,  patron  des  animaux, 
est,  selon  toute  apparence,  le  porti-ait  dun  acteur  renomme.'— Ampere,  Hist. 
Bom.  iv.  28. 


1  See  an  admirably  corrective  article  on  '  Walks  in  Borne'  by  the  writer  of  a 
recent  work  on  the  '  Bemains  of  Ancient  Borne,'  in  the  Btiilder,  August  27,  1887. 
It  is  not  '  a  thankless  task  to  correct  Mr.  Hare's  misstatements  ; '  he  takes  this 
opportunity  of  saying  how  exceedingly  grateful  he  is  for  even  the  most  severe 
notice  of  them. 

VOL.  I.  F 


82  Walks  in  Rome 

III  the  '2nd  Koom  are  two  skeletons  in  their  sarcophagi,  found 
in  ISS'J  in  the  Prati  di  Castello.  That  to  the  right  is  the  girl 
Crcperia  Tryphaena,  buried  with  her  ornaments  and  doll  (see  Ch. 
XV.).  An  interesting  sarcophagus  in  the  vestibule  is  that  (found 
at  S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le  Mura)  of  Licentius,  the  friend  and  pupil  of 
S.  Augu.stinc,  who  was  vainly  urged  by  his  master  and  by  I'aulinus 
of  Nola  to  turn  his  back  upon  the  world,  and  became  a  Roman 
senator,  but  died  a  Christian  in  40(5.  At  the  foot  of  the  staircase  is 
a  colossal  statue  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian  in  armour,  found  on  the 
Coelian. 

Opposite  the  foot  of  the  staircase,  a  door  leads  into  three  rooms 
filled  with  sculpture.  In  the  first  is  a  fragment  of  a  female  statue, 
found  on  the  Via  Appia,  with  admirable  drapery.  The  grand  sar- 
cophagus in  the  second  room  represents  a  battle  between  the  Gauls 
and  Romans,  the  Gauls  distinguished  by  their  torques.  Many  of 
tlie  inscriptions  let  into  the  walls  relate  to  members  of  the  imperial 
family.  In  the  third  room  is  the  glorious  sarcophagus,  said  to  be 
that  of  the  murdered  Alexander  Severus  and  (his  mother)  Julia 
Mauiaea,  and  found  in  the  Monte  del  Grano,  outside  the  Porta  S. 
Giovanni.  The  reliefs  on  the  sides,  which  are  of  the  noblest  period 
of  Roman  art,  represent  the  history  of  Achilles.  The  vase  which 
contained  the  ashes  belonging  to  this  sarcophagus  is  the  famous 
'  Portland  vase  '  of  the  British  Museum. 

The  Staircase  is  lined  with  the  fragments  of  the  Pianta  Capito- 
lina,  a  series  of  marble  slabs  of  imperial  date  (found,  for  the  most 
part,  in  the  sixteenth  century  under  SS.  Cosmo  and  Damian), 
inscribed  with  ground-plans  of  Rome,  and  exceedingly  important 
from  the  light  they  throw  upon  the  ancient  topography  of  the 
city.  A  number  of  missing  slabs,  formerly  in  the  hands  of  the 
Farnese,  were  found  in  the  winter  of  1898-99,  near  the  fountain  of 
the  Mascherone. 

The  upper  Corridor  is  lined  with  statues  and  busts.  Here  and 
elsewhere  we  will  only  notice  those  especially  remarkable  for  beauty 
or  historic  interest.' 

h.  60.    .Satyr  pl.iyiii^  on  a  flute— fouiul  on  the  Aventine. 
R.    ,5.    Cupid  bending  his  bow— probaljly  a  copy  from  the  bronze  of  Lysippns, 
found  at  Tivoli. 
R.    8.    Old  woman  intoxicated. 

'  Tout  le  monde  a  remanjue  dans  le  musoe  du  Capitole  line  vieille  femme 
serrant  des  deux  mains  une  Itouteille,  la  bouclic  entr'ouverte,  las  yeux  mourants 
tourncs  vers  le  ciel,  comme  si,  dans  la  jnl)ilation  de  I'ivresse,  elle  savourait  le 
vin  quelle  vient  de  l)oire.  Comment  nu  i)as  voir  dans  cette  caricature  en  niarbre 
une  reproduction  de  la  VieiUf  l-'oiuiir  Ivrr  de  Myron,  qui  passait  pour  une  des 
curiositts  de  Smyrne?' — Ainpire,  Hint.  Hum.  iii.  272. 

L.  The  infant  Hercules  straufjlint;  a  serpent. 

L.  Grand  sarcophagus— Tlie  Kape  of  Proserpine. 

R.  12.      Faun  playing  on  a  flute. 

(In  the  wall  on  the  left,  inscriptions  from  the  Colnmbarium  of  Livia.) 
L.  Sarcophagus— the  birth  and  childhood  of  Bacchus. 

L.  42.  .Statue,  draped— supposed  to  be  .Julia  Maesa,  sister-in-law  of  Septimius 
SeveruB,  found  near  the  Doniine  quo  Vadis. 

1  R,  right ;  L,  left. 


Hall  of  the  Emperors  83 

R.  22.    Head  of  Ariadne. 

R.  25.  Jupiter,  on  a  cippus  witli  a  curious  relief  of  Claudia  drawing  the  boat 
with  the  image  of  the  JIagna  Mater  up  the  Tiljer. 

L.  33.     Bust  of  Caligula. 
*R.  28.     Marcus  Aurelius,  as  a  boy— a  very  beautiful  bust. 

K.  29.  Statue  of  Minerva  from  Velletri.  The  same  as  that  called  Minerva 
Giustiniani  in  the  Braccio  Nuovo  of  the  Vatican. 

R.  30.    Trajan. 

R.  31.    Caracalla. 

R.  76.  In  the  window,  a  magnificent  vase,  found  near  the  tomb  of  Cecilia 
Metella,  standing  on  a  puteal  adorned  with  reliefs  of  the  twelve  principal  gods 
and  goddesses. 

From  the  right  of  this  corridor  open  two  chambers.  The  first 
is  named  the  Room  of  the  Doves,  from  the  famous  mosaic  found 
in  the  ruins  of  Hadrian's  villa  near  Tivoli,  and  generally  called 
Pliny's  Doves,  because  Plinj',  when  speaking  of  the  perfection  to 
which  the  mosaic  art  had  attained,  describes  a  wonderful  mosaic 
of  Sosus  of  Pergamos,  in  which  one  dove  is  seen  drinking  and 
casting  her  shadow  on  the  water,  while  others  are  pluming  them- 
selves on  the  edge  of  the  vase.  As  a  pendant  to  this  is  another 
mosaic  of  a  Tragic  and  Comic  Mask.  In  the  farther  window  is 
(83)  the  Iliac  Tablet,  an  interesting  relief  in  the  soft  marble  called 
palombino,  relating  to  the  story  of  the  destruction  of  Troy  and  the 
flight  of  Aeneas,  and  found  at  Bovillae. 

'  L'ensenible  de  la  guerre  centre  Troie  est  contenu  dans  un  abrege  figure  qu'on 
appelle  la  Table  Iliaque,  petit  bas-relief  destin6  I'l  offrir  un  resume  visible  de 
cette  guerre  aux  jeunes  Romains,  et  a  servir  dans  les  ecoles  soit  pour  Vlliade, 
soit  pour  les  poemes  cycliciues  conime  d'un  Index  parlant. 

'  La  Table  Iliaque  est  un  ouvrage  roniain  fait  h  Home.  Tout  ce  qui  touche 
aux  origines  troyennes  de  cette  ville,  inconnue.s  a  Honi6re  et  celebrtSes  surtout 
par  Stesichore  avant  de  I'etre  par  Virgile,  tient  dans  ce  bas-relief  une  place  im- 
portante  et  domine  dans  sa  composition.' — Ampere,  Hist.  Mom.  iii.  431. 

The  second  chamber  contains  the  famous  Venus  of  the  Capitol — 
a  Greek  statue,  a  copy  from  Praxiteles,  found  immured  in  a  wall 
upon  the  Quiriual. 

'  La  verite  et  la  complaisance  avec  lesquelles  la  nature  est  rendue  dans  la 
Venus  du  Capitole  faisaient  de  cette  belle  statue  un  sujet  de  scandale  pour 
I'austerite  des  premiers  Chretiens.  C'etait  sans  donte  aftn'de  la  soustraire  a  leurs 
mutilations  qu'on  I'avait  enfouie  avec  soin,  ce  qui  la  conservee  dans  son  integrity ; 
ainsi  son  danger  I'a  sauvee.  Comme  on  la  trouvee  dans  le  ((uartier  suspect  de 
la  Suburra,  on  pent  supposer  qu'elle  ornait  I'atrium  elegant  de  quelque  riche 
courtisane.' — Ampere,  iiL  318. 

The  two  smaller  sculptures  of  Leda  and  the  Swan,  and  Cupid 
and  Psyche — two  lovely  children  embracing — were  found  on  the 
Aventine. 

From  the  end  of  the  gallery  we  enter 

The  Hall  of  the  Emperors.  In  the  centre  is  the  beautiful  seated 
statue  of  Agrippina  (grand-daughter  of  Augustus,  wife  of  Ger- 
manicus,  and  mother  of  Caligula). 

'  On  s'arrete  avec  respect  devant  la  premitire  Agrippine,  assise  avec  une  si  noble 
simplicite  et  dont  le  visage  exprinie  si  bien  la  fermete  virile.' — Ampere,  iv. 

'  Ici  nous  la  contemplons  telle  que  nous  pouvons  nous  la  figurer  aprfes  la  mort 
de  Germanicus.  Elle  semble  mise  aux  fers  par  le  destin,  mais  sans  pouvoir 
encore  renoncer  aux  pensoes  superbes  dont  son  ame  titait  remplie  aux  jours  de 
son  bonheur. ' — Braiin. 


84  Walks  in  Rome 

•Kuiniiui  iiigt-ns  aiiiiiii  niimiii  ducis  per  eos  dies  induit  militibusque,  ut  quia 
Inoiw  uut  saucius,  vustcni  et  fonienta  liilargita  est.  Tradit  C.  Plinius  stetisse 
apud  priiK-ipiuni  pontis,  laiules  et  grates  reversis  legionibus  Imbentem.'—TacituK, 
Ann.  i.  lifl. 

'Tiberius  did  not  spare  liis  own  kindred  when  he  sacrificed  that  of  others. 
Can  one  see  tlie  seated  statue  of  Agrippina  without  reiiienil)ering  the  scene 
where  tlie  centurion,  lier  Kuard,  lifts  the  stafl:'  atrainst  that  nol)le  iiead,  and 
strikes  out  one  of  liereyes?  Under  sueli  ill-usage  Agrippina  carries  out  her 
resfdve  to  die  of  huntier,  and  when  she  is  dead,  the  senate  renders  thanks  to 
Caesar  for  his  clemency  towards  her !  '—Viktor  liydhi-nj. 

Round  the  room  are  ranged  eighty-three  busts  of  Roman  emperors, 
empresses,  and  their  near  relations,  forming  perhaps  the  most 
intere.sting  portrait-gallery  in  the  world. 

'  It  is  a  high-horn  company,  but  there  is  cause  to  doubt  if  it  be  as  good  as  it  is 
select. '—  Viktor  Jiydberij. 

All  the  Julian  family  are  handsome  :  even  viewed  as  works  of  art, 
many  of  the  busts  are  of  the  utmost  importance.     They  are — 

1.  .Tulius  Caesar,  nat.  B.C.  100;  ob.  B.C.  44.     Murdered. 

2.  Augustus,  Imp.  B.C.  12— A.I>.  14—'  beaming  with  dignity  and  personal 
charm.' 

'His  featui'es  were  quiet  and  cheerful,  whether  he  spoke  or  was  silent,'— 
Suetonius, 

3.  Marcelhis,  his  nephew  and  son-in-law,  son  of  Octavia,  ob.  B.C.  23,  aged  20. 

4.  5.  Tiberius,  Imp.  A.D.  14-37. 

'  In  spite  of  the  curved  nose— the  Roman  nose,  so  seldom  seen  in  Rome — 
Tiberius  has  so  strong  a  family  likeness  to  his  stepfather  that  many  have  sus- 
pected a  nearer  relationship  between  them.'— Tifctor  Hydberg. 

6.  Drusus,  his  brother,  son  of  Livia  and  Claudius  Nero,  ob.  B.C.  10. 

7.  Drusus,  son  of  Tiberius  and  Vipsania,  ob.  A.D.  23. 

8.  Anto!iia,  daughter  of  Mark  Antony  and  Octavia,  wife  of  the  elder  Drusus, 
mother  of  Gennanicus  and  Claudius. 

9.  Germanicus,  son  of  Urusus  and  Antonia,  ob.  A.D.  19. 

J.O.  Agrippina,  daughter  of  .Julia  and  Agrippa,  grand-daughter  of  Augustus, 
wife  of  Germanicus.     Died  of  starvation  under  Tiberius,  A.D.  33. 

'Colloquium  ftlii  e.\poscit,  ubi  nihil  pro  innocentia,  quasi  difftderet,  nee 
beneflciis,  quasi  exprobaret  di.ssernit,  sed  ultionem  in  delatores  et  praeniia 
amicis  obtinuit.' — Tacitun,  Ann.  xiii.  21. 

11.  Caligula,  Imp.  A.D.  37-41,  son  of  Germanicus  and  Agrippina.  Murdered 
by  the  tribune  Chaerea  (a  noble  l)ust  in  basalt). 

'  That  imperial  maniac,  whose  portrait  in  green  liasalt,  with  the  stain  of  dire 
mental  tension  on  the  forehead,  is  still  so  beautiful  that  we  are  ai)le  at  this 
distance  of  time  to  pity  more  than  loathe  him.' — J.  A.  Symonds. 

'The  head  is  turned  slightly  aside,  the  brow  thunders,  the  eyes  lighten,  the 
fine  mouth  is  pressed  wrathfully  and  scornfully  tcjgether;  but  one  can  at  once 
see  that  this  look  is  counterfeited  or  i)ractiseil  ;  it  is  still  only  the  theatre  tyrant, 
with  features  according  to  rule.  "  His  whole  exterior,"  says  Tacitus,  "was  an 
imitation  of  that  which  Tiberius  had  put  on  for  the  day,  and  he  spoke  almost 
with  the  words  of  the  latter."  ' — Viktor  Rydberg. 

12,  Claudius,  Imp.  AD.  41-54,  younger  son  of  Drusus  and  Antonia.  Poisoned 
by  his  wife  Agrippina  the  younger. 

'  A  well-formed  head,  against  which,  from  the  point  of  view  of  beauty,  one 
can  hardly  note  anything,  but  that  the  oval  of  the  face  is  too  compressed.  'The 
broad  forehead  is  overcast  with  clouds  of  melancholy.  The  eyes  disclose,  with 
their  unsteady,  sad,  and  kindly  look,  a  plodding  and  suffering  spirit,  that  is 
conscious  of  its  noble  birth,  but  unable  to  maintain  its  freedom.' — Viktor 
Rydlcrtj. 


Hall  of  the  Emperors  85 

13.  Messalina,  third  wife  of  Claudius.  Put  to  death  l)y  Claudius,  a.d.  48— the 
dressing  of  the  hair  characteristic  and  curious. 

'  Une  grosse  comrafere  sensuelle,  aux  traits  bouttis,  u  I'air  assez  conimun,  niais 
qui  pouvait  plaire  a  Claude.' — Ampere,  Emp.  ii.  32. 

14.  Agrippina  the  younger,  sixth  wife  of  Claudius,  daughter  of  Gernianicus 
and  Agrippina  the  elder,  great-grand-daughter  of  Augustus.  Murdered  by  her 
son  Nero,  A.u.  60. 

'  Ce  buste  la  niontre  avec  cette  beaute  plus  grande  (lue  celle  de  sa  ni6re,  et 
qui  6tait  po\ir  elle  un  nioyen.  Agrippine  a  les  yeux  lev^s  vers  le  ciel ;  on  dirait 
qu'elle  craint,  et  qu'elle  attend.' — E»ip.  ii.  34. 

15.  16.  Nero,  Imp.  A.D.  54-69,  son  of  Agrippina  the  younger  by  her  first 
husliand,  Ahenobarltus.     Died  by  his  own  hand. 

'  Suetonius  says  that  the  features  of  Nero  were  more  handsome  than  engaging 
His  hair,  like  that  of  all  the  Domitians,  was  liglit-brown,  his  eyes  were  bluish- 
grey.' —  Viktor  Rydherg. 

17.  Poppaea  Saljina  (?),  the  beautiful  second  wife  of  Nero.  Killed  by  a  kick 
from  her  husband,  A.D.  62.  I'he  extravagance  of  Poppaea  was  so  great  that, 
when  she  travelled,  she  took  with  her  500  she-asses,  that  she  might  not  fail  to 
have  her  bath  of  milk  every  morning. 

'  Ce  visage  a  la  delicatesse  presque  enfantine  que  pouvait  ofTrir  celui  de  cette 
fenime,  dont  les  moUes  recherches  et  les  soins  curieux  de  toilette  (Staient  cel6bres, 
et  dont  Diderot  a  dit  avec  V(5rite,  bien  qu'avec  un  peu  d'emphase,  "C'etait  une 
furie  sous  le  visage  des  graces."  '  —  Emp.  ii.  38. 

18.  Galba,  Imp.  A.D.  69.     Murdered  in  the  Forum— full  of  character. 

19.  Otho,  Imp.  A.D.  69.     Died  by  his  own  hand. 

20.  Vitellius  (?),  Imp.  A.D.  69.  Murdered  at  the  Scalae  Gemoniae— a  coarse, 
sensuous  face. 

21.  Vespasian,  Imp.  A.D.  70-79. 

22.  Titus,  Imp.  A.D.  79-81,  son  of  Vespasian  and  Domitilla.  Supposed  to  have 
been  poisoned  hy  his  brother  Domitian— a  grand  bust. 

'  With  the  Flavians,  a  coarser  mould  of  features  comes  on ;  "the  urbane  "  gives 
way  for  a  something  rustic,  the  aesthetic  for  a  something  common.  The  honest, 
good-humoured,  ))Ut  stingy  toll-officer,  who  was  a  father  of  this  house,  plainly 
has  handed  down  his  face  to  Vespasian  and  Titus.'—  Viktor  Rydherg. 

23.  Julia,  daughter  of  Titus. 

24.  Domitian,  Imp.  A.D.  81-96,  second  son  of  Vespasian  and  Domitilla.  Mur- 
dered in  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars. 

'  Domitien  est  sans  comparaison  le  plus  beau  des  trois  Flaviens  ;  niais  c'est  une 
beauts  formidable,  avec  un  air  farouche  et  faux.' — Emp.  ii.  12. 

25.  Doniitia  Longina(?),  wife  of  Domitian. 

26.  Nerva  (?),  Imp.  A.D.  96.  Elected  by  the  people,  after  the  murder  of 
Domitian. 

27.  Trajan,  Imp.  A.D.  98-118.    Adopted  son  of  Nerva. 

28.  Plotina,  wife  of  Trajan— one  of  the  most  striking  portraitures  in  this 
collection. 

29.  Marciana,  sister  of  Trajan. 

30.  Matidia,  daughter  of  Marciana,  niece  of  Trajan. 

31.  32.  Hadrian,  Imp.  A.D.  118-138,  adopted  son  of  Trajan. 

33.  Julia  Sabina,  wife  of  Hadrian,  daugliter  of  Matidia — very  regal. 

34.  Elius  Verus,  first  adopted  son  of  Hadrian. 

35.  Antoninus  Pius,  Imp.  a.d.  138-101,  second  adopted  son  of  Hadrian. 

'  Seldom  does  the  quiet  and  gentle  strength  of  moral  will  shine  forth  from  the 
features  of  a  Roman  emperor  as  from  the  glorious  face  of  Antoninus  Pius.' — 
Viktor  Rydherg. 

'  I  saw  a  calm  and  Princely  Presence  come. 
Who,  stately  as  tlie  imperial  jmrple,  bore 
His  robe,  a  saint  in  mien,  mild,  innocent. 
Perfect  in  manhood,  with  clear  eye  serene, 
And  lofty  port ;  who  from  the  sages  took 
What  lessons  earth  could  give,  but  trod  no  less 


86  Walks  in  Rome 

The  toilsome  patli  of  Duty  to  the  end  ; 
Ami  as  he  i)assed  I  knew  the  kin^'ly  ghost 
(If  Aiitonius,  who  knew  not  Christ  indeed, 
Yet  not  the  less  was  His.     I  marked  the  calm 
And  thonghtful  face  of  him  who  ruled  himself, 
And  through  himself  the  world.'— Leit'w  Morris. 

36.  Faustina  the  elder,  wife  of  Antoninus  Pius  and  sister  of  Elius  Verus. 

37.  Manus  .\urelius.  Imp.  A. P.  161-180,  son  of  Servianus  by  Paulina,  sister  of 
Hadrian,  adopted  hy  Antoninus  Pius,  as  a  hoy. 

38.  Marcus  Aurelius,  in  later  life. 

3!).  Annia  Faustina,  wife  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  daughter  of  Antoninus  Pius  and 
Faustina  the  elder. 

40.  Galerius  Antoninus,  son  of  Antoninus  Pius. 

41.  Lucius  Verus,  son-in-law  of  Marcus  Aurelius. 

42.  Lucilla,  wife  of  Lucius  Verus,  daughter  of  ^[arcus  Aurelius  and  Faustina 
the  younger.     Put  to  death  at  Capri  for  a  plot  against  her  husband. 

43.  Conimodus.  Imp.  A.D.  lSO-193,  son  of  Marcus  Aurelius  and  Faustina. 
Murdered  in  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars— handsome  and  sensuous. 

44.  Crispina,  wife  of  Conimodus.     Put  to  death  by  her  husband  at  Capri. 

4,').  Pertinax,  Imp.  A.D.  193,  successor  of  Coramodus,  reigned  three  months. 
Murdered  in  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars. 

46.  Didius  .Tulianus.  Imp.  A.D.  193,  successor  of  Pertinax.  Murdered  In  the 
Palace  of  the  Caesars. 

47.  Manila  Scantilla  (?),  wife  of  Didius  Julianus. 

.-    _  ■      XT-  ^  rivalcandidates(aftermurderof  Didius  .Julianus,  A.D. 

48.  Pescennius  JNiger    ]       ^^^^  ^      ^j^g  Empire,  which  they  failed  to  obtain, 

49.  Clodius  Albinus      \      ^J  ,^g,.g  ^^^^j^  pj.^  ^^  ^^^^^ 

50.  51.  Septimius  Severus,  Imp.  A.D.  193-211,  successor  of  Didius  Julianus. 

52.  Julia  Pia,  wife  of  Septimius  Severus — with  a  movable  wig. 

53.  Caracalla,  Imp.  A.D.  211-217,  son  of  Septimius  Severus  and  Julia  Pia. 
Murdered.  The  cruel  shrewdness  of  this  emperor  is  always  marvellously  por- 
trayed in  his  busts,  which  are  of  perhaps  the  best  period  of  Roman  portraiture. 

54.  Geta,  brother  of  Caracalla.  by  whose  order  he  was  murdered  in  the  arms 
of  Julia  Pia. 

55.  Macrinus,  Imp.  A.D.  217,  murderer  and  successor  of  Caracalla.    Murdered. 

56.  Diadunienianus,  son  of  Macrinus.    Murdered  with  his  father. 

57.  Heliogabaius,  Imp.  A.D.  218-222,  son  of  Julia  Soemis,  daughter  of  Julia 
Maesa,  who  was  sister  of  Julia  Pia.     Murdered. 

58.  Annia  Faustina, third  wife  of  Heliogabaius,  great-grand-daughter  of  Marcus 
Aurelius— with  coloured  marble  drapery. 

50.  Julia  Maesa,  sister-in-law  of  Septimius  Severus,  aunt  of  Caracalla  and 
grandmother  of  Alexander  Severus. 

60.  Alexander  Severus,  Imp.,  son  of  Julia  Mamaea,  second  daughter  of  Julia 
Maesa.     Murdered  at  the  age  of  28. 

61.  Julia  Mamaea,  daughter  of  Julia  Maesa,  and  mother  of  Alexander  Severus. 
Murdered  with  her  son. 

62.  Julius  Maximinus,  Imp.  A.D.  235-238  ;  elected  by  the  army.    Murdered. 

63.  Maximus.    Murdered  with  his  father  at  the  age  of  18 — a  very  fine  bust. 

64.  Gordianus  Africanus,  Imp.  A.D.  238  ;  a  descendant  of  Trajan.  Died  by  his 
own  hand. 

65.  (Antoninus)  Gordianus,  Junior,  Imp.  A.D.  238,  son  of  Gordianus  Africanus 
and  Fabia  Orestella,  great-grand-daughter  of  Antoninus  Pius.     Died  in  battle. 

66.  Pupienus,  Imp.  A.D.  238  )  reigned  together  for  four  months  and  then  were 

67.  Kalbinus,  Imp.  A.D.  238  J      murdered. 

68.  Gordianus  Pius,  Imp.  A.D.  238,  grandson,  through  his  mother,  of  Gordianus 
Africanus.     Murdered. 

69.  Philip  II.,  Imp.  A.D.  244,  son  of,  and  co-emperor  with  Philip  I.    Murdered. 

70.  Decius  (?),  Imp.  A.D.  249-251.  Forcibly  elected  by  the  army.  Killed  in 
battle. 

71.  Quintus  Herennius  Etruscus,  son  of  Decius  and  Herennia  Etruscilla. 
Killed  in  battle  with  his  father. 

72.  Hostilianus,  son  or  son-in-law  of  Decius,  Imp.  a.d.  251,  with  Treb.  Gallus. 
Murdered. 

73.  Trebonianus  Gallus,  Imp.  A.D.  251-254.     Murdered. 


Hall  of  Illustrious  Men  87 

74,  75.  Volusianus,  son  of  Trebonianus  Gallus.    Murdered. 

76.  Gallienus,  Imp.  a.d.  261-268.     Murdered— a  low  type  of  bad  face. 

77.  Salonina,  wife  of  Gallienus. 

78.  Saloninus,  son  of  Gallienus  and  Salonina.  Put  to  death  by  Postumus, 
A.D.  259,  at  the  age  of  17. 

79.  Marcus  Aurelius  Carinus,  Imp.  A.D.  283,  son  of  tlie  Emperor  Carus. 
Murdered. 

SO.  Diocletian,  Imp.  A.D.  284-305  ;  elected  by  the  army. 

81.  Constantius  Chlorus,  Imp.  A.D.  305-306,  son  of  Eutropius  and  Claudia,  niece 
of  the  Emperor  Claudius  II.  and  Quintilius ;  father  of  Constantine  the  Great. 

'  Rude  soldiers  now  change  with  dull  stewards  of  the  realm,  and  the  peculi- 
arities of  both  kinds  unite  in  a  repulsive  whole  in  Constantius  Chlorus  and 
Constantine. ' —  Viktor  Rydber/j. 

82.  Julian  the  Apostate,  Imp.  A.D.  361-363,  son  of  Julius  Constantius  and 
nephew  of  Constantine  the  Great.     Died  in  battle. 

83.  Magnus  Decentius,  brother  of  the  Emperor  Magnentius.  Strangled  him- 
self, A.D.  353  ;— with  the  characteristics  of  mediaeval  sculpture. 

'  In  their  busts  the  lips  of  the  Roman  emperors  are  generally  closed,  indicating 
reserve  and  dignity,  tree  from  human  passions  and  emotions.' — Winckelmann. 

'  At  Rome  the  emperors  become  as  familiar  as  the  popes.  Who  does  not  know 
the  curly-headed  Marcus  Aurelius,  with  his  lifted  brow  and  projecting  eyes— from 
the  full  round  beauty  of  his  youth  to  the  more  haggard  look  of  his  latest  years  ? 
Are  there  any  modern  portraits  more  familiar  than  the  severe  wedge-like  head 
of  Augustus,  with  his  sharp-cut  lips  and  nose,— or  the  dull  phiz  of  Hadrian,  with 
his  hair  combed  down  over  his  low  forehead,— or  the  vain,  perking  face  of  Lucius 
Verus,  with  his  thin  nose,  low  Ijrow,  and  profusion  of  curls, — or  the  brutal  bull 
head  of  Caracalla,— or  the  bestial  bloated  features  of  Vitellius? 

'  These  men,  who  were  but  lay  figures  to  us  at  school,  mere  pegs  of  names  to 
hang  historic  robes  upon,  thus  interpreted  by  the  living  history  of  their  portraits, 
the  incidental  illustrations  of  the  i)laces  where  they  lived  and  moved  and  died, 
and  the  buildings  and  monuments  they  erected,  become  like  men  of  yesterday. 
Art  has  made  them  our  contemporaries.  They  are  as  near  to  us  as  Pius  VII.  and 
Napoleon.' — Story's  ' Roba  di  Roma.' 

'  Nerva  est  le  premier  des  bons,  et  Trajan  le  premier  des  grands  empereurs 
romains ;  apres  lui  il  y  en  cut  deux  autres,  les  deux  Antonins.  Trois  sur  soix- 
ante-dix,  tel  est  h,  Rome  le  bilan  des  gloires  morales  de  I'empire.'— ^mpt-re.  Hist. 
Rom.  liii. 

Among  the  reliefs  round  the  upper  walls  of  this  room  are  two, 
of  Endymion  sleeping  and  of  Perseus  delivering  Andromeda,  which 
belongto  the  set  in  the  Palazzo  Spada,  and  are  exceedingly  beautiful. 
The  Hall  of  Illustrious  Men  contains  a  seated  statue  called  M. 
Claudius  Marcellus  (?),  the  conqueror  of  Syracuse,  B.C.  212.  Eound 
the  room  are  ranged  ninety-three  busts  of  ancient  philosophers, 
statesmen,  and  warriors.  Among  the  more  important  are  : — 
4,  5,  6.  Socrates.  48.  Cneius  Domitius  Corbulo, 


general   under    Claudius 

and  Nero. 
49.  Scipio  Africanus. 
52.  Cato  Minor. 

54.  Aspasia(?). 

55.  Cleopatra  (?). 
60.  Thucydides(?). 


9.  Aristides  the  orator. 
10.  Seneca  (?). 

16.  Marcus  Agrippa,  son-in-law 
of  Augustus— a  grand  bust. 
19.  Theophrastus. 
23.  Thales. 
25.  Theon. 

27.  Pythagoras.  61.  Aeschines 

28.  Alexander  the  Great  (?).  i       62,  64.  Epicurus. 

30.  Aristophanes.  '  63.  Epicurus  and  Metrodorus. 

31.  Demosthenes.  ;       68,  69.  Masinissa. 
38.  Aratus.  :  71.  Antisthenes. 

39,  40.  Democritus  of  Abdera.  :        72,  73.  Julian  the  Apostate. 

42,  43.  Euripides.  '  76.  Cicero. 

44,  45,  46.  Homer.  i  77.  Terence. 

47.  Eumenides.  I  83.  Aeschylus  (?). 


88  Walks  in  Rome 

Amonpr  the  interestinf^  bas-reliefs  in  tliis  room  is  one  of  a  Roman 
interior  with  a  lady  trying  to  persuade  her  cat  to  dance  to  a  lyre — 
the  cat.  meanwhile,  snapping,  on  its  hind-legs,  at  two  dncks  ;  the 
detail  of  the  room  is  given,  even  to  the  slippers  under  the  bed.  A 
relief  of  three  dancing  girls  and  a  fawn  is  inscribed  with  the  name 
of  tlie  Greek  artist — Callimachus. 

The  Saloon  contains,  down  the  centre — 

1.  Jupiter  (in  nero-antico),  from  Porto  d'Aiizio,  on  an  altar  with  figures  of 
Meri'ury,  Apollo,  and  Uiaiia. 

2.  4.  Centaurs  (in  bi>rio-niorato),  by  ArMeas  and  Papian  (tlieir  names  are  on 
tlie  bases),  from  Hadrian's  Villa. 

'  Both  the  youthful  and  the  elder  Centaur,  we  infer  from  copies,  oriccinally 
carried  a  winged  cupid.  While,  however,  the  youthful  Centaur  is  enduring  his 
teasing  rider  with  laughing  humour,  the  elder  one,  with  fettered  arms,  is  sighing 
over  the  pain  which  the  tyrannical  God  of  Love  is  preparing  for  him.  This  in- 
geiuous  idea  iinlicates  an  older  Greek  original,  and  the  choice  of  black  marble, 
as  Well  as  the  technical  skill  eviu  jnced  in  its  treatment,  seem  to  infer  that  the 
artists  worked  after  a  bronze  production.' — Liihke. 

3.  The  young  Hercules— in  basalt,  found  in  the  Vigna  irasslmi  on  the  Aventine. 
It  stands  on  an  altar  of  .lupiter. 

'()n  voit  au  Capitole  une  statue  d'Hercule  trfes-jeune,  en  basalte,  qxxi  frappe 
assez  desagreablenient,  d'abord,  par  le  contraste,  hal)ilement  e.xpriine  toutefois, 
des  formes  molles  de  I'eufance  et  de  la  vigueur  caracteristique  du  heros.  L'imita- 
tion  de  la  Grece  se  montre  mume  dans  la  matieie  que  I'artiste  a  choisie  ;  c'est  un 
basalte  verditre,  de  couleur  sombre.  Tisagoras  et  Alcon  avaient  fait  un  Hercule 
en  fer,  pour  exprimer  la  force,  et,  comme  dit  Pliue,  pour  signifier  I'energie  per- 
8ev6rante  du  dieu.' — Ampere,  flist.  Horn.  iii.  406. 

5.  Aesculapius  (in  nero-antico),  on  an  altar,  representing  a  sacrifice. 

Among  the  statues  and  busts  round  the  room  the  more  important 
are  : — 

6.  A  Faun— one  of  the  s.ame  type  as  that  in  rosso-antico. 

9.  Trajan— a  colossal  bust. 
10.  Augustus— a  naked  figure. 
12.  An  athlete — the  head  most  beautiful. 

1.3   Hadrian— a 'naked  figure,  with  the  attribute  of  Mars— from  Ceprano. 
17.  Minerva— of  rigid  archaic  sculpture. 

21.  Beautiful  male  statue  of  the  time  of  Hadrian— the  lower  part  of  the  figure 
draped. 

22.  Hecuba. 

'  Nous  avons  le  persoimage  mfime  d'Hdcube  dans  la  Pleureuse  du  Capitole. 
Cette  priitendue  pleureuse  est  une  Hecnbe  furieuse  et  une  H^cube  en  scene,  car 
elle  portc  le  co.stnine,  elle  a  le  geste  et  la  vivacit6  du  theatre,  je  dirais  volontiers 
de  la  iiantominie.  .  .  .  Son  regard  est  tourn6  vers  le  ciel,  sa  bouche  lance  des 
imprecations  :  on  voit  iiu'elle  pourra  faire  entendre  ces  hurlenients,  ces  aboie- 
meiits  de  la  douleur  effren^e  que  I'antiquit^  voulut  exprimer  en  supposant  que 
la  malheureuse  Hecube  avait  6te  m6tamorphosee  en  chienne,  une  chienne  4 
laquelle  on  a  arrache  ses  petits.'—Aviphe,  Hist.  Rom.  iii.  408. 

25.  Colossal  bust  of  Antoninus  Pius. 

The  Hall  of  the  Faun  derives  its  name  from  the  famous  Faun  of 
rosso-aiitico,  holding  a  bunch  of  grapes  to  his  mouth,  found  in 
Hadrian's  Villa.  It  stands  on  an  altar  dedicated  to  Serapis. 
Against  the  right  wall  is  a  magnificent  sarcophagus  (No.  18),  whose 
reliefs  (much  studied  by  Flaxman)  represent  the  battle  of  Theseus 


Hall  of  the  Dying  Gladiator  89 

and  the  Amazons.  The  opposite  sarcopliagus  (No.  3),  found  under 
the  Church  of  S.  Eustachio,  has  a  relief  of  Diana  and  Endymion. 
We  should  also  notice — 

S.  A  boy  with  a  mask. 

16.  A  boy  with  a  goose  (found  near  the  Laturan). 
21.  A  beautiful  eyeless  bust  of  Ariadne. 

Let  into  the  wall  is  a  black  tablet — the  Lex  Regia  or  Senatus 
Consultum,  conferring  imperial  powers  upon  Vespasian,  being  the 
very  table  upon  which  Rienzi  declaimed  in  favour  of  the  rights  of 
the  people. 

The  Hall  of  the  Dying  Gladiator  contains  the  three  gems  of  the 
collection  — 

1.  The  Gladiator— from  the  jiavdens  of  Sallust. 
10.  The  Kauii  of  Praxiteles— the  best  copy  extant. 

12.  The  Antinous  of  the  Capitol — from  the  villa  of  Hadrian. 

'  The  identity  of  the  Capitoline  Antinous  may  be  reckoned  more  than  doubtful. 
The  head  is  almost  certainly  not  his.  How  it  came  to  be  placed  upon  a  body 
presenting  so  much  resemblance  to  the  type  of  Antinous,  I  do  not  know.  Careful 
comparison  of  the  toiso  and  the  arms  with  an  indubitaljle  portrait  will  even  raise 
the  question  whether  this  fine  statue  is  not  a  Hermes  or  a  hero  of  an  earlier  age. 
Its  attitude  suggests  Narcissus  or  Adonis ;  and  under  either  of  these  forms 
Antinous  may  properly  have  been  idealised.'— J^.  A.  Symonds. 

Besides  these  we  should  notice — 

2.  Majestic  female  statue — sometimes  called  Juno. 

3.  Head  of  Alexander  the  Great. 

4.  Amazon,  from  the  Villa  d'Este. 

5.  Head  of  Bacchus— magniflcent. 
7.  Apollo  with  the  lyre. 

9.  Statuette  of  a  little  girl  defending  a  bird  from  a  snake. 
16.  Bust  of  M.  Junius  Brutus,  the  assassin  of  Julius  Caesar.   '  Tu  quoque,  Brute.' 

In  the  centre  of  the  room  is  the  grand  statue  of  the  wounded 
Gaul,  generally  known  as  the  Dying  Gladiator. 

'  I  see  before  me  the  gladiator  lie  : 
He  leans  upon  his  hand— his  manly  brow 
Consents  to  death,  but  conquers  agony, 
And  his  drooped  head  sinks  gradually  low, — 
And  through  his  side  the  last  drops,  ebbing  slow 
From  the  red  gash,  fall  heavy,  one  by  one, 
Like  the  first  of  a  thunder-shower  ;  and  now 
The  arena  swims  around  him — he  is  gone. 
Ere  ceased  the  inhuman  shout  which  hailed  the  wretch  who  won. 

He  heard  it,  but  he  heeded  not — his  eyes 
Were  with  his  heart,  and  that  was  far  away ; 
He  reck'd  not  of  the  life  he  lost,  nor  prize, 
But  where  his  rude  hut  by  the  Danube  lay. 
There  were  his  young  barbarians  all  at  play, 
There  was  their  Dacian  mother — he,  their  sire, 
Butchered  to  make  a  Roman  holiday. 
All  this  rushed  with  his  blood — shall  he  expire, 
And  unavenged  ?    Arise,  ye  Goths,  and  glut  your  ire  ! ' 

— Byron,  '  Childe  Harold. 

It  is  delightful  to  read  in  this  room  the  description  in  Trans- 
formation : — 


00  Walks  in  Rome 

'  It  was  that  room,  in  the  centre  of  which  reclines  the  noble  and  most  pathetic 
llt;ure  of  the  dying  gladiator,  jnst  sinking  into  his  <leathswoon.  Around  the 
walls  stand  the  Antinous,  the  Amazon,  the  Lycian  Apollo,  the  Juno,  all  famous 
productions  of  anti(iue  sculpture,  and  still  shining  in  the  undiminished  majesty 
and  Iteauty  of  their  ideal  life,  although  the  marble  that  embodies  them  is  yellow 
with  time,  and  perhaps  corroded  by  the  damp  earth  in  which  they  lay  buried 
for  centuries.  Here,  likewise,  is  seen  a  symbol  (as  apt  at  this  moment  as  it  was 
two  thousand  years  ago)  of  the  Human  Soul,  with  its  choice  of  Innocence  or 
Evil  dose  at  hand,  in  the  pretty  figure  of  a  child,  clasping  a  dove  to  her  bosom, 
but  .issaulted  by  a  snake. 

'  From  one  of  the  windows  of  this  saloon  we  may  see  a  broad  flight  of  stone 
steps,  descending  alongside  the  anticpie  and  massive  foundation  of  the  Capitol, 
towards  the  battered  tri\imphal  arch  of  Heptimius  Severus,  right  below.  Farther 
on  the  eye  skirts  along  the  edge  of  the  desolate  Forum  (where  Roman  washer- 
women hang  out  their  linen  to  the  sun),  passing  over  a  shapeless  confusion  of 
modern  edifices,  piled  rudely  up  with  ancient  brick  and  stone,  and  over  the 
domes  of  cinistian  churches,  built  on  the  old  jiavements  of  heathen  temples,  and 
snppnrteil  by  the  very  pillars  that  once  iiiiluld  tlium.  At  a  distance  beyond— 
yet  liut  a  little  away,  considering  how  much  history  is  heaped  into  the  interven- 
ing sjiace— rises  the  great  sweep  of  the  Coliseum,  with  the  blue  sky  brightening 
thniugh  its  upper  tier  of  arches.  Far  off.  the  view  is  shut  in  by  the  Alban 
mountains,  looking  just  the  same,  amid  all  this  decay  and  change,  as  when 
Romulus  gazed  thitherward  over  his  half-finished  wall. 

'  In  thi.s  chamber  is  the  Faun  of  Praxiteles.  It  is  the  marble  image  of  a  young 
man.  leaning  his  right  arm  on  the  trunk  or  stump  of  a  tree :  one  hangs  carelessly 
l)y  his  side,  in  the  other  he  holds  a  fragment  of  a  pipe,  or  some  such  sylvan 
instrument  of  music.  His  only  garment,  a  lion's  skin  with  the  claws  upon  the 
shoulder,  falls  half-way  down  his  back,  leaving  his  limbs  and  the  entire  front  of 
the  figure  nude.  The  form,  thus  displayed,  is  marvellously  graceful,  but  has  a 
fuller  and  more  rounded  outline,  more  flesh  and  less  of  heroic  muscle,  than  the 
old  sculptors  w^ere  wont  to  assign  to  their  types  of  masculine  beauty.  The 
character  of  the  face  corresponds  with  the  figure  ;  it  is  most  agreeable  in  out- 
line and  feature,  but  rounded  and  somewhat  voluptuously  developed,  especially 
about  the  throat  and  chin  ;  the  nose  is  almost  straight,  but  very  slightly  curves 
inward,  thereby  acquiring  an  indescriljable  charm  of  geniality  and  humour. 
The  mouth,  with  its  full  yet  delicate  lips,  seems  so  really  to  smile  outright,  that 
it  calls  forth  a  responsive  smile.  The  whole  statue — unlike  anything  else  that 
ever  was  wrought  in  the  severe  material  of  marble — conveys  the  idea  of  an 
amiable  and  sensual  creature,  easy,  mirthful,  apt  for  jollity,  yet  not  incapable  of 
being  touched  by  pathos.  It  is  impossible  to  gaze  long  at  this  stone  image 
without  conceiving  a  kindly  sentiment  towards  it,  as  if  its  substance  were  warm 
to  the  touch  and  imbued  with  actual  life.  It  comes  very  near  to  some  of  our 
pleasantest  sympathies.' — Ilaivthorne. 

'  Praxitfele  avait  dit  k  Phryn6  de  cholsir  entre  ses  ouvrages  celui  qu'elle  aimerait 
le  mieux.  Pour  savoir  lequel  des  ses  chefs-d'oeuvre  I'artiste  pr^ferait,  elle  lui  fit 
annoncer  (pie  le  feu  avait  pris  a  son  atelier.  "Sauvez,  s'6cria-t-il,  mon  Satyre  et 
mon  Amour  I  "  '—A  mpere.  Hist.  Horn.  iii.  309. 

The  west  or  right  side  of  the  Capitoline  Piazza  is  occupied  by  the 
Palace  of  the  Conservators,  which  contains  the  Protomoteca,  the 
Picture  Gallery,  and  various  other  treasures.  Admission  50  c.  ;  10 
to  3  on  week-days  and  10  to  1  on  Sundays,  when  it  is  free. 

The  little  court  at  the  entrance  is  full  of  historical  relics,  includ- 
ing remains  of  two  gigantic  statues  of  Apollo  ;  a  colossal  head  of 
Domitian  ;  and  the  marble  pedestal,  which  once  in  the  mausoleum 
of  Augustus  supported  the  cinerary  urn  of  Agrippina  the  elder, 
daughter  of  Agrippa,  wife  of  Germanicus,  and  mother  of  Caligula — 
'a  handful  of  ashes  of  old  Roman  virtue' — with  a  very  perfect 
inscription.     The  cippus  was  evidently  the  work  of  Caligula,  who 


Halls  of  the  Conservators  91 

brought  back  the  ashes  of  his  mother  from  Pandatoria,  where  she 
died  in  exile.  It  was  hollowed  out  and  used  as  a  measure  for  corn 
('rugitelladi  grano ')  in  the  Middle  Ages.  In  the  opposite  loggia 
are  a  statue  of  Rome  Triumphant  and  a  group  of  a  lion  attacking  a 
horse,  found  in  the  bed  of  the  Arno.  In  the  portico  on  the  left  is 
a  statue  of  Augustus,  leaning  against  the  rostrum  of  a  galley,  in 
allusion  to  the  battle  of  Actium.  On  the  right  is  the  only  authentic 
statue  of  Julius  Caesar. 

'  Before  us  stands  a  military  chief  in  full  armour,  in  whose  hard,  bony,  elderly 
face  never  gleamed  the  most  distant  flash  of  that  genius  which  with  the  tires  of 
lightning-  split  asunder  the  hosts  of  Gaul  and  Germany,  crushed  the  warlike  fame 
of  Pompey,  overthrew  the  Kepublic.  and  annihilated  the  remnants  of  old  Roman 
virtue.  Xot  a  glimpse  of  that  affability  which  in  the  old  Caesars,  as  in  the  young, 
took  captive  an  adversary  ;  or  of  that  sense  of  beauty  which  made  him  an  artist 
among  historians  and  orators  ;  or  of  that  magnanimity  which,  with  human  noble- 
ness, gilded  the  selfishness  of  a  fiend.' — Viktor  Rydberg. 

Opposite  the  foot  of  the  staircase  is  a  restoration,  by  Michel- 
angelo, of  the  column  —  Columna  rostrata — of  Caius  Duilius. 
Then,  at  the  end  of  the  corridor,  a  seated  statue  of  Charles  of 
Anjou,  who  was  made  a  senator  of  Rome  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

'  It  is  a  massive,  roughly  blocked-out  figure,  seated  upon  a  throne-chair  sup- 
ported by  lions,  dressed  in  a  long  tunic  and  royal  mantle,  with  a  crown  upon  the 
head  and  a  sceptre  firmly  planted  upon  the  right  knee.  The  expression  of  the 
face  is  stolid,  but  its  lineaments  are  individual,  and  the  shape  of  the  head  is  so 
peculiar  that  we  cannot  doubt  its  being  a  faithful  portrait.  For  this  reason  it  is 
of  high  historical  value,  and  as  the  only  mediaeval  portrait-statue  at  Rome,  must 
be  regarded  with  no  common  interest.' — Perkins's  '  Italian  Sculptors.' 

On  the  first  and  second  landings  are  magnificent  reliefs,  repre- 
senting events  in  the  life  of  Marcus  Aurelius  Imp.,  belonging  to  the 
arch  dedicated  to  him,  which  was  wantonly  destroyed,  in  order  to 
widen  the  Corso,  by  Alexander  VII. 

'  Jusqu'au  regne  de  Commode  Rome  est  reprt-sentee  par  une  Amazone ;  dans 
I'escalier  du  palais  des  Conservateurs,  Rome,  en  tunique  courte  d'Amazone  et  le 
globe  a  la  main,  rei^oit  Marc-Aurele  ;  le  globe  dans  la  main  de  Rome  date  de 
C^sar.' — Ampere,  iii.  2'12. 

On  the  upper  flight  of  the  staircase  is  a  bas-relief  of  Curtius  leap- 
ing into  the  gulf,  here  represented  as  a  marsh,  found  near  S.  Maria 
Liberatrice. 

'Un  bas-relief  d'un  travail  ancien,  dont  le  style  ressemble  h.  celui  des  figures 
peintes  sur  les  vases  dits  archaiques,  represente  Curtius  engage  dans  son  marais  ; 
le  cheval  baisse  la  tete  et  flaire  le  marecage,  qui  est  indi(|ue  par  les  roseaux.  Le 
guerrier,  penche  en  avant,  presse  sa  monture.  On  a  vivement,  en  presence  de 
cette  cui'ieuse  sculpture,  le  sentiment  dun  incident  herouiue  probablemeut  r6el, 
et  en  menie  temps  de  I'aspect  primitif  du  lieu  qui  en  fut  tenioin.' — Ampere,  Hist. 
Bom.  i.  321. 

The  Halls  of  the  Conservators  consist  of  eight  ro^ms  (entrance 
50  c).     The  lst,i  painted  in  fresco  from  the  history *bf  the  Roman 

1  The  chapel  (opposite  the  staircase)  is  sometimes  entered  before  the  other 
rooms,  and  leads  into  the  seventh,  whence,  on  the  right,  you  enter  the  second 
hall. 


92  Walks  in  Rome 

kinps,  bv  the  Cnvalierc  <V  Arpiiw,  contains  statues  of  Urban  VIII., 
bv  Bernini,  and  Innocent  X.,  in  bronze,  by  Algardi.  The  2nd  Room, 
adorned  with  subjects  from  republican  history  by  Lauretti,  has 
statues  of  modern  Roman  generals— Marc  Antonio  Colonna,Tommaso 
Rospigliosi,  Francesco  Aldobrandini,  Carlo  Barberini,  brother  of 
Urban  VIII.,  and  Alessandro  Farnese,  Duke  of  Parma.  The  3rd 
Room  is  painted  by  Danicle  da  Volterra,  with  subjects  from  the  wars 
with  the  Cimbri.  Amongst  its  decorations  are  two  fine  pictures, 
a  dead  Christ  with  a  monk  praying,  by  the  Capuchin  Cosimo  Piazza 
da  Castelfranco,  and  S.  Francesca  Romana,  by  Romantlli. 

The  4th  Room  contains  the  Fasti  Consulures,  tables  iomid  near  the 
Temple  of  Vesta,  where  they  are  supposed  to  have  been  engraved  on 
the  walls  of  a  marble  chamber  in  the  Regia,  the  official  residence  of 
the  Pontifex  Maximus.^  They  are  inscribed  with  the  names  of 
public  officers  from  Romulus  to  Augustus.  The  frescoes  are  by 
Benedetto  BontirjU,  1420-9G.  The  5th  Room  contains  two  bronze 
ducks  (formerly  shown  as  the  sacred  geese  of  the  Capitol)  and  a 
female  head  (found  in  the  gardens  of  Sallust).  a  bust  of  Medusa,  by 
Bernini,  and  a  fine  bronze  bust  of  Michelangelo. 

A  passage  filled  with  trashy  tributes  to  Garibaldi  leads  to  the 
6th  or  Throne  Room,  hung  with  faded  tapestry  ;  it  has  a  frieze  in 
fresco  by  Annibcde  Ceiracci,  representing  the  triumphs  of  Scipio 
Africanus.  The  7th  Room  is  painted  by  Daniele  da  Volterra  (?), 
with  the  history  of  the  Punic  Wans.  The  8th  Room  is  a  chapel, 
containing  a  lovely  fresco  by  Andrea  eli  Assist  (L'Inyeyno),  of  the 
Madonna  and  Child  with  Angels. 

'The  Madonna  is  seated  enthroned,  fronting  the  spectator;  her  large  mantle 
forms  a  grand  cast  of  drapery ;  the  child  on  her  lap  sleeps  in  the  loveliest 
attitude  ;  she  folds  her  hands  and  looks  down,  quiet,  serious,  and  beautiful :  in 
the  clouds  are  two  adoring  angels.' — Kwjler. 

This  fresco  was  removed  from  the  staircase  in  1703,  when  it  was  much  re- 
painted, the  robe  of  tbe  Virgin  being  made  dark  green,  and  that  of  the  angel  on 
the  left  red  !  So  it  remained  till  1878,  when  the  original  colouring  was  discovered 
and  disclosed  by  Signor  Garelli. 

The  four  Evangelists  are  by  Caravaejgio  ;  the  pictures  of  Roman 
saints  (Cecilia  Alexis,  Eustachio,  Francesca  Romana)  by  Romanelli. 

A  door  on  the  left  of  the  entrance  to  the  Halls  of  the  Conservators 
leads  to  a  set  of  rooms  and  galleries  chief! 3'  devoted  to  the  antiquities 
discovered  since  the  change  of  Government  in  1870.  Passing  through 
some  rooms  occupied  by  modern  Fasti  Consulares,  and  decorated 
with  busts  of  eminent  Italians  (the  most  remarkable  being  that  in 
the  ."Jrd  Room  right  of  the  entrance,  of  Pius  VII.,  a  most  noble  work 
of  Canova)  we  reach  (right)  two  rooms  filled  with  bronzes.  The 
first  contains  a  couch,  litter,  and  remains  of  a  chariot,  discovered  in 
1862 ;  the  sec(^nd  a  collection  of  coins  found  in  the  Horti  Lamiani 
in  1876,  and  others  from  the  Campana  and  Castellani  collection. 

From  the  first  of  the  Bronze  Rooms  we  enter  (left)  an  octagonal 


1  See  a  paper  by  F.  M.  Nichols  in  Archaeologia,  vol.  1.  pt.  1. 


Halls  of  the  Conservators  93 

hall  in  which  the  statues  recently  found  on  the  Esquiline — chiefly 
in  the  gardens  of  Maecenas — are  provisionally  arranged.  We  may 
notice  (beginning  from  the  right) — 

1.  The  lower  portion  of  an  armed  imperial  statue. 

2.  An  altar  from  the  Porta  Salara,  with  a  poem  inscribed  upon  it,  beins  the 
monument  of  the  too  clever  boy  G.  Sulpicus  Maxinuis  (see  Ch.  XI.). 

18.  A  beautiful  boy  pouring  water  from  a  vessel. 

16.  Bust  of  Commodus,  as  Hercules,  beautifully  finished,  from  the  Horti 
Laniiani. 

A  very  beautiful  Apollino,  recalling  the  'Genius  of  the  Vatican.' 

12.  Urania  (?)  (in  the  inner  circle). 

21.  A  magnificent  sarcophagus  with  a  boar  hunt,  from  Vicovaro. 
*28.  Polimnia,  with  exquisitely  simple  drapery.     The  head  of  this  statue  was 
found  in  1S72,  the  body  not  till  1874. 

33.  Statue  of  Claudia  Justa. 

A  beautiful  l)ust  with  the  hair  turned  back. 

Seated  figure  of  a  girl,  much  restored,  from  the  Horti  Lamiani. 

Statuette  of  Minerva. 

46..  Maecenas — a  bust. 

Seated  female  figure,  from  Via  Principessa  Margherita. 

Apollo  with  the  lyre,  like  the  'Genius  of  the  Vatican.' 

38,  42.  Runners. 

43.  Beautiful  male  fragment. 

46.  Marsyas— the  tree,  hands  and  feet  added. 

(Inner  circle.)    Old  fisherman. 

10.  Old  woman  with  a  kid,  from  the  Horti  Vettiani. 

8.  A  statuette  of  Ceres  (Terrae  Matris)  in  the  shrine  in  which  it  was  found, 
the  iron  hinges  for  the  doors  still  in  their  place. 

(Opposite  the  entrance.)  A  beautiful  vase  of  Greek  workmanship,  with  an  in- 
scription.    By  Pontios  of  Athens,  from  the  gardens  of  Maecenas. 

(Behind  this  a  delightful  dog  in  verde-antico.) 

Hence,  by  a  passage  containing  a  bust  in  a  Phrygian  cap  with 
remains  of  polychrome  colour,  and  crossing  the  end  of  the  gallery, 
we  enter  a  room  filled  with  objects  in  terra-cotta  found  on  the 
Esquiline.  Especially  worthy  of  notice  are  three  cinerary  urns,  as 
found,  enclosing  each  other,  first  terracotta,  then  lead,  then  ala- 
baster. Among  the  smaller  objects  preserved  here  are  a  writing 
tablet  inscribed  with  the  owner's  name,  and  an  inkstand  with  its 
bronze  pens. 

We  now  enter  the  Camera  del  Bronzi,  which  contains  the  famous 
Bronze  Wolf  of  the  Capitol,  one  of  the  most  interesting  relics  in  the 
city.  The  figure  of  the  wolf  is  believed  to  be  that  dedicated  by  the 
Ogulnii,  aediles,  in  B.C.  297  ;  the  figures  of  Eorculus  and  Remus  are 
modern.  It  has  been  doubted  whether  this  is  the  wolf  described  by 
Dionysius  as  '  an  ancient  work  of  brass  '  standing  in  the  Temple  of 
Romulus  under  the  Palatine,  or  the  wolf  described  by  Cicero,  who 
speaks  of  a  little  gilt  figure  of  the  founder  of  the  city  sucking  the 
teats  of  a  wolf.  The  Ciceronian  wolf  was  struck  by  lightning  in  the 
time  of  the  great  orator,  and  a  fracture  in  the  existing  figure,  attri- 
buted to  lightning,  is  adduced  in  proof  of  its  identity  with  it. 

'  Geminos  huic  ubera  circum 
Ludere  pendentes  pueros,  et  lambere  matrem 
Inipavidos  :  illam  tereti  cervice  reflexara 
Mulcere  alternos,  et  corpora  fingere  lingua.' 

—  Virgil,  Aen.  viii.  632. 


04  Walks  in  Rome 

'  Ami  thou,  the  tliuuder-strickeii  nurse  of  Home  ! 
Sht-wolf  !  whose  l)iazeti-iiiiaged  dugs  impart 
The  milk  of  comiuest  yet  within  the  dome, 
Wlicre,  as  a  monument  of  a))tique  art, 
Thou  standest :— mother  of  tlie  niiglity  heart, 
Wliich  the  ureat  founder  sucked  fnnii  thy  wild  teat, 
Hcorch'd  hy  the  Roman  .(ove's  clliercal  dart. 
And  thy  limbs  black  with  lightning— dost  thou  yet 
Guard  thy  immortal  cubs,  nor  thy  fond  charge  forget?" 

—Bijrmi,  '  Childe  Harold.' 

The  wolf  (with  the  Hercules,  the  Boy  extracting  a  thorn,  the 
Camillns,  and  the  colossal  head  of  Domitian)  was  preserved  in  the 
Papal  Museum  at  the  Lateran  from  the  beginning  of  the  ninth 
century,  and  removed  to  the  Capitol  in  1473. 

Standini;  near  the  wolf  is  the  well-known  and  beautiful  figure  of 
a  boy  extracting  a  thorn  from  his  foot,  called  the  Shepherd 
Martius. 

'  La  resseniblance  du  type  si  flu  ie  I'Apollon  au  lezard  et  du  charmant  bronze 
du  Capitole  Ic  tireur  d'ipine  est  trop  frappante  pour  qu'on  puisse  se  refuser  a  voir 
dans  celui-ci  une  inspiration  de  Praxitele  ou  de  son  ecole.  C'est  tout  simplement 
un  enfant  arrachantde  son  pied  une  epine  qui  I'a  blesse,  sujet  naif  et  champetre 
analogue  au  Satyre  se  faisant  rendre  ce  service  par  un  autre  Satyre.  On  a  voulu 
y  voir  un  athlete  blesse  par  une  epine  pendant  sa  course  et  qui  n'en  est  pas 
nioins  arrive  au  but ;  mais  la  figure  est  trop  jeune  et  n'a  rien  d'athl^tique.  Le 
inoyen  age  avait  donne  aussi  son  explication  et  invents  salegende.  On  racontait 
qu'un  jeune  berger,  envoye  a  la  decouverte  de  I'ennemi,  etait  revenu  sans 
s'arriiter  et  ne  s'etait  permis  qu'alors  d'arracher  une  epine  qui  lui  blessait  le 
pied.  Le  moyen  age  avait  senti  le  charme  de  cette  composition  qu'il  interpretait 
a  sa  mauiere,  car  elle  est  sculptee  sur  un  arceau  de  la  eathedrale  de  Zurich  qui 
date  du  siecle  de  Charlemagne.'— yli/J^ere,  iii.  315. 

In  the  back  of  the  room  is  the  statue  of  Hercules,  in  gilt  bronze, 
found  in  the  Forum-Boarium  in  the  time  of  Sixtus  IV. 

'  On  cite  de  Myron  trois  Hercules,  dont  deux  a  Rome  ;  I'un  de  ces  derniers  a 
probablement  servi  de  modele  a  I'Hercule  en  bronze  dore  du  Capitole  Cette 
statue  a  etc  trouvee  dans  le  marche  aux  boeufs,  non  loin  du  grand  cirque. 
L'Hercule  de  Myron  etait  dans  un  temple  eleve  par  Pompee  et  situe  pres  du 
grand  cirque  ;  mais  la  statue  du  Capitole,  dont  le  geste  est  niani6r6,  quel  que 
aoit  son  nierite,  nest  pas  assez  parfaite  pour  qu'on  puisse  y  reconnaitre  une 
(Kuvre  de  Myron.  Peut-etre  Pompie  n'avait  place  dans  son  temple  qu'une  copie 
de  I'un  des  deux  Hercules  de  Myi-on  et  la  donnait  pour  I'original ;  peut-etre 
aussi  Pline  y  a-t-il  ete  trompe.  La  vanite  (jue  I'un  montre  dans  tons  les  actes 
de  sa  vie,  et  le  peu  de  sentiment  vrai  que  trahit  si  souvent  la  vaste  composition 
de  I'autre,  s'accordent  egalement  avec  cette  supposition  et  la  rendent  assez  vrai- 
semblable.' — Ampere,  Hint.  Rom.  iii.  273. 

A  gigantic  hand  is  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  the  statue  of 
Com  modus  ;  a  colossal  foot  belonged  to  a  statue  of  Caius  Cestius, 
erected  near  his  pyramid,  with  the  sale  of  the  gold  stuff  in  which 
he  had  desired  (contrary  to  law)  to  be  buried  ;  the  famous  bronze 
horse  was  found  (1849)  in  the  Trastevere. 

'  Calamis  venu  un  peu  avant  Phidias,  n'eut  point  de  rival  pour  les  chevaux. 
Calamis,  qui  fut  fondeur  en  bronze,  serait-il  I'auteur  du  cheval  de  bronze  du 
Capitole,  ({ui,  en  effet,  semble  plutot  mi  peu  anterieur  (jue  post^rieur  ii  Phidias?' 
— Ampere,  Hist.  Rom.  iii.  234. 

A  beautiful  vase  of  fluted  bronze,  found  in  the  sea  at  Porto 
d'Anzio,  is  that  sent  by  Mithridates,  king  of  Pontus,  to  the  college 
of  the  Eupatorian  Gymnasiarchs.     It  is  supposed  to  have  been  lost 


Halls  of  the  Conservators  95 

while  it  was  being  carried  off  in  the  triumph  of  Pompey  ;  the  handles 
are  modern.  Near  the  door  is  the  curious  bust  said  to  represent 
Junius  Brutus,  who  drove  out  the  kings,  and  became  the  first  consul. 

'  II  est  perniis  de  voir  dans  le  liuste  du  Capitole  un  vrai  portrait  de  Brutus  ;  11 
est  difficile  d'en  douter  en  le  contemplant.  Voila  bieu  le  visage  farouche,  la 
barbe  hirsute,  las  cheveux  roides  colles  si  rudement  sur  le  front,  la  physiononiie 
inculte  et  terrible  du  premier  consul  remain  ;  la  bouche  serree  respire  la  deter- 
mination et  I'energie  ;  les  yeux,  formes  dune  matiere  jaunatre,  se  detaclient  en 
clair  sur  le  bronze  noirci  par  les  siecles  et  vous  jettent  un  regard  fixe  et  farouche. 
Tout  pres  est  la  louve  de  bronze.  Brut\is  est  de  la  meme  famille.  On  sent  qu'il 
y  a  du  lait  de  cette  louve  dans  les  veines  du  second  fondateur  de  Rome,  comma 
dans  les  veines  du  premier,  et  que  lui  aussi,  pareil  au  Romulus  de  la  l^gende, 
marchera  vers  son  but  a  travers  le  sang  des  siens. 

'  Le  buste  de  Brutus  est  place  sur  un  pi6destal  qui  le  met  a  la  hauteiu"  du 
regard.  La,  dans  un  coin  sombre,  j'ai  passd  bien  des  moments  face  a  face  avec 
I'impitoyable  fondateur  de  la  liberte  romaine.' — Ampere,  Hist.  Rom.  ii.  270. 

The  next  room  is  occupied  by  Etruscan  vases  and  antiquities,  the 
gift  of  Castellani. 

Returning  to  the  corridor,  a  staircase  on  the  right  leads  to  the 
Picture  Gallery  of  the  Capitol,  founded  by  Benedict  XIV.,  which 
contains  very  few  first-rate  pictures,  but  has  a  beautiful  S.  Sebas- 
tian, by  Guido,  and  several  fine  works  of  Guercino.  The  pictures 
are  not  hung  in  the  order  of  their  numbers.     We  may  notice — 

1st  Room  (opposite  the  stairs — beginning  R.) — 

84.  Rubens.     Romulus  and  Remus. 

78.  Romanelli.     S.  Cecilia. 

70.  Lorenzo  di  Credi — later  period.    Madonna  and  Child,  with  angels. 

68.  Guercino.    S.  John  Baptist. 

61.  Guido  Reni.     Mary  Magdalen. 
*59.  Bomenichino.     The  Cumaean  Sibyl. 

58.  Albani.    The  Nativity  of  the  Virgin. 

57.  Tintoret.    Mary  Magdalene. 

54.  Copy  from  Suhleyras  by  his  wife.     Mary  Anointing  the  Feet  of  Christ. 

53.  Garofalo.     Holy  Family. 

47.  Guercino.     The  Persian  Sibyl. 

29.  Cola  dell'  Amatricc.  Death  and  Assumption  of  the  Virgin. 
'  Here  the  death  of  the  Virgin  is  treated  at  once  in  a  mystical  and  dramatic 
style.  Enveloped  in  a  dark  blue  mantle,  spangled  with  golden  stars,  she  lies 
extended  on  a  couch  ;  S.  Peter,  in  a  splendid  scarlet  cope  as  bishop,  reads  the 
service;  S.  John,  holding  the  palm,  weeps  bitterly.  In  front,  and  kneeling 
before  the  couch  or  bier,  appear  the  three  great  Dominican  saints  as  witnesses 
of  the  religious  mystery  :  in  the  centre,  S.  Dominic  ;  on  the  left  S.  Catherine  of 
Siena ;  and  on  the  right  S.  Thomas  Aquinas.  In  a  compartment  above  is  the 
Assumption.' — Jameson's  'Legends  of  the  Madonna,'  p.  315. 

17.  Guido  Rcni.     Disembodied  spirit  (unfinished). 

13.  F.  Francia,  1513.    Madonna  and  Saints— an  early  work  of  the  master. 

High  up  are  hung  some  exquisitely  beautiful  fragments  of  the 
frescoes  of  Raffaelle,  removed  from  the  walls  of  the  villa  of  Leo  X. 
at  Maglione.     They  have  been  engraved  by  Gruner. 
2nd  Room  (entered  from  the  corner  of  1st  Room) — 
139.   Velasquez  ?    Portrait.     If  authentic,  this  picture  is  of  the  first  period  of 
the  master. 

3j'd  Room — 

155.  Romanelli.     Innocence. 

143.  Titian.     Baptism  of  Christ.     Au  early  work  of  the  master   ruined  by 

restoration. 
141.  Giovanni  Bellini.     Portrait  of  himself. 


96  Walks  in  Rome 

itk  Room — 

254.  Pittro  da  Cortona.    The  Defeat  of  Darius. 

260.  Tintoret.     The  Klagellation. 

249.  Tiiitoiet.    The  Crowiiinp;  with  Thorns. 

248.  Tintoret.     Bapti.sni  of  Christ. 
"246.  Guidn  lieni.     S.  Sebastiiin— splendid  in  foini  and  colour. 

241.  (wverciiw.     Cleopatra  and  Augustus. 

240.  Caravaggio.     S.  Sebastian. 

'221.  Guercino.  S.  Petronilla.  An  enormous  picture,  brought  hither  from  S. 
Peter's,  where  it  has  been  replaced  by  a  mosaic  copy.  The  composi- 
tion is  divided  into  two  parts.  The  lower  represents  the  burial  of 
S.  Petronilla,  the  upper  the  ascension  of  her  spirit. 

'  Tlie  Apostle  Peter  had  a  daughter,  bom  in  lawful  wedlock,  who  accompanied 
him  on  his  journey  from  the  East.  Petronilla  was  wonderfully  fair;  and 
Valerius  Klaccus,  a  young  and  noble  Roman,  who  was  a  heathen,  became 
enamoured  of  her  beauty,  and  sought  her  for  his  wife ;  and  he  being  very 
powerful,  she  feared  to  refuse  him  ;  she  therefore  desired  him  to  return  in  three 
days,  and  promised  that  he  should  then  carry  her  home.  But  she  prayed 
earnestly  to  be  delivered  from  th^s  peril ;  and  when  Flaccus  returned  in  three 
days,  with  great  pomp,  to  celebrate  the  marriage,  he  found  her  dead.  The 
company  of  nobles  who  attended  him  carried  her  to  the  grave,  in  which  they 
laid  her,  crowned  with  roses  ;  and  Flaccus  lamented  greatly." — Mrs.  Jameson, 
from  the  '  Perfetto  Legendario.' 

197.  Paolo  Veronese.    The  Rape  of  Europa. 

At  the  head  of  the  Capitol  steps,  to  the  right  of  the  terrace,  is  the 
entrance  to  the  Palazzo  CafFarelli,  the  residence  of  the  Prussian 
ambassador.  It  contains  a  magnificent  hall,  used  as  a  ball-room, 
and  the  view  from  the  upper  windows  is  most  beautiful. 

'  After  dinner,  Bunsen  called  for  us,  and  took  us  first  to  his  house  on  the 
Capitol,  the  different  windows  of  which  command  the  different  views  of  ancient 
and  modern  Rome.  Never  shall  1  forget  the  view  of  the  former  :  we  looked 
down  on  the  Forum,  and  just  opposite  were  the  Palatine  and  the  Aventine,  with 
the  ruins  of  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars  on  the  one,  and  houses  intermixed  with 
gardens  on  the  other.  The  mass  of  the  Coliseum  rose  beyond  the  Forum,  and 
beyond  all,  the  wide  plain  of  the  Campagna  to  the  sea.  On  the  left  rose  the 
Alban  hills,  bright  in  the  setting  sun,  which  played  full  upon  Frascati  and 
Albano,  and  the  trees  which  edge  the  lake,  and  farther  away  in  the  distance  it 
lit  up  the  old  town  of  Labicum.'--.ilrHoWs  Letters. 

P'rom  the  farther  end  of  the  courtyard  of  the  Caffarelli  Palace 
one  can  look  down  upon  part  of  the  bare  cliff  of  what  was  probably 
the  Rupe  Tarpeia.  Here  there  existed  till  1868  a  small  court, 
which  is  represented  as  the  scene  of  the  murder  in  Hawthorne's 
'Marble  Faun  '  or  '  Transformation.'  The  door,  the  niche  in  the 
wall,  and  all  other  details  mentioned  in  the  novel,  were  realities. 
The  character  of  the  place  is  now  changed  by  the  removal  of  the 
boundary-wall  and  formation  of  a  new  road.  The  part  of  the  rock 
seen  from  here  is  that  usually  visited  from  below  by  the  Via  Tor 
de'  Specchi. 

To  reach  the  principal  portion  of  the  south-eastern  height  of  the 
Capitol,  we  must  ascend  the  staircase  beyond  the  Palace  of  the 
Conservators  on  the  right.  Here  we  shall  find  ourselves  upon  the 
highest  part  of 


The  Tarpeian  Rock  97 

'  The  Tarpeian  rock,  the  citadel 
Of  great  and  glorious  Rome,  queen  of  the  earth, 
So  far  renowu'd,  and  with  the  spoils  enriched 
Of  nations.'  — Paradise  Regained. 

'  The  steep 
Tarpeian,  fittest  goal  of  treason's  race, 
The  promontory  whence  the  traitor's  leap 
Cured  all  ambition.'  — Childe  Harold. 

The  lane,  with  its  grass-grown  spaces  and  quiet  houses,  has  little 
to  remind  one  of  the  appearance  of  the  hill  as  seen  by  Virgil  and 
Propertius,  who  speak  of  the  change  in  their  time  from  an  earlier 
aspect. 

'  Hinc  ad  Tarpeiam  sedem  et  Capitolia  ducit, 
Aurea  nunc,  olini  silvestribus  horrida  (hnnis  ; 
Jam  tum  religio  pavidos  terrebat  agrestes 
Dira  loci ;  jam  tum  silvam  saxumque  tremeliant.' 

—  Virgil,  Aen.  viii.  347. 

'  Hoc  quodcumque  vides,  hospes,  qua  maxima  Roma  est, 
Ante  Phrygem  Aeneam  collis  et  herba  fuit' 

— Propertius,  Eleg.  iv.  1. 

It  was  on  this  side  that  the  different  attacks  were  made  upon  the 
Capitol.  The  first  was  by  the  Sabine  Herdonius  at  the  head  of  a 
band  of  slaves,  who  scaled  the  cliffs  and  surprised  the  garrison  in 
B.C.  460,  and  from  the  heights  of  the  citadel  proclaimed  freedom  to 
all  slaves  who  should  join  him,  with  abolition  of  debts,  and  defence 
of  the  plebs  from  their  oppressors  ;  but  his  offers  were  disregarded, 
and  on  the  fourth  day  the  Capitol  was  retaken,  and  he  was  slain 
with  nearly  all  his  followers.  The  second  attack  was  by  the  Gauls, 
who,  according  to  the  well-known  story,  climbed  the  rock  near  the 
Porta  Carmentalis,  and  had  nearly  reached  the  summit  unobserved 
-^for  the  dogs  neglected  to  bark — when  the  cries  of  the  sacred 
geese  of  Juno  aroused  an  officer  named  Manlius,  who  rushed  to  the 
defence,  and  hurled  over  the  precipice  the  first  assailant,  who 
dragged  down  others  in  his  fall,  and  thus  the  Capitol  was  saved. 
In  remembrance  of  this  incident,  a  goose  was  annually  carried  in 
triumph,  and  a  dog  annually  crucified  upon  the  Capitol,  between 
the  temple  of  Summanus  and  that  of  Youth. ^  This  was  the  same 
Manlius,  the  friend  of  the  people,  who  was  afterwards  condemned 
by  the  patricians  on  the  pretext  that  he  wished  to  make  himself 
king,  and  thrown  from  the  Tarpeian  rock,  on  the  same  spot,  in 
sight  of  the  Forum,  where  Spurius  Cassius,  an  ex-consul,  had  been 
thrown  down  before.  To  visit  the  part  of  the  rock  from  which 
these  executions  must  have  taken  place,  it  is  necessary  to  enter  a 
little  garden  near  the  German  Hospital. 

'  Quand  on  veut  visiter  la  roche  Tarpuienne,  on  sonne  k  une  porte  de  peu  d'ap- 
parence,  sur  laquelle  sont  Merits  ces  mots  :  Rocca  Tarpeia.  Une  pauvre  femme 
arrive  et  vous  niene  dans  un  carre  de  choux.  C'est  de  la  qu'on  precipita  Manlius. 
Je  serais  desole  que  le  carr6  de  choux  manquat.' — Ampere,  '  Portraits  de  Rome.' 

This  side  of  the  Intermontium  is  now  generally  known  as  Monte 
Caprino,  a  name  which  Ampere  derives  from  the  fact  that  Vejovis, 

1  Plin.  Nat.  Hist.  xxix.  14.  1 ;  Plut.  Fort.  Rom.  12. 
VOL.  I.  G 


98  Walks  in  Rome 

the  Etruscan  ideal  of  Jupiter,  was  always  represented  with  a  goat.' 
On  this  side  of  the  hill,  the  wooden  bridge  from  the  Palatine, 
built  by  Caligula  (who  alfected  to  require  it  to  facilitate  com- 
munication with  his  friend  Jupiter),  joined  the  Capitoline. 

We  have  still  to  examine  the  north-eastern  height,  by  many  still 
thought  the  probable  site  of  the  most  interesting  of  pagan  tem- 
ples, now  occupied  Viy  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  Christian 
churches.  The  name  of  the  famous  Church  of  Ara-Coeli  is  gene- 
rally attributed  to  an  altar  erected  by  Augustus  to  commemorate 
theDelpbic  oracle  respecting  the  coming  of  our  Saviour,  which  is 
still  recognised  in  the  well-known  hymn  of  the  Church : 

'  Teste  David  cum  Sibylla."- 

The  altar  bore  the  inscription  '  Ara  Primogeniti  Dei.'  Those  who 
seek  a  more  humble  origin  for  the  church  say  that  the  name  merely 
dates  from  mediaeval  times,  when  it  was  called  '  S.  Maria  in  Auro- 
coelio.'  It  originally  belonged  to  the  Benedictine  Order,  but  was 
transferred  to  the  Franciscans  by  Innocent  IV.  in  1252,  from  which 
time  its  convent  occupied  an  important  position  as  the  residence  of 
the  General  of  the  Minor  Franciscans  (Greyfriars),  and  is  the  centre 
of  religious  life  in  that  Order.  In  the  Middle  Ages,  Ara-Coeli  was 
the  church  of  the  Roman  Senate,  and  it  has  often  served  as  a 
Parliament  House  for  the  city  of  Rome. 

The  staircase  on  the  left  of  the  Senator's  palace,  which  leads  to 
the  side  entrance  of  Ara-Coeli,  is  in  itself  full  of  historical  associa- 
tions. It  was  at  its  head  that  Valerius  the  consul  was  killed  in  the 
conflict  with  Herdonius  for  the  possession  of  the  Capitol.  It  was 
down  the  ancient  steps  on  this  site  that  Annius,  the  envoy  of  the 
Latins,  fell  (B.C.  340),  and  was  nearly  killed,  after  his  audacious 
proposition  in  the  Temple  of  Jupiter,  that  the  Latins  and  Romans 
should  become  one  nation,  and  have  a  common  senate  and  consuls. 
Here  also,-*  in  B.C.  133,  Tiberius  Gracchus  was  knocked  down  with 
the  leg  of  a  chair,  and  killed  in  front  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter.  On 
the  right  of  the  staircase,  above  the  Mamertine  prisons,  a  fine 
fragment  of  the  primitive  wall  of  the  Capitol,  five  courses  high, 
may  be  seen. 

It  is  at  the  top  of  these  steps  that  the  monks  of  Ara-Coeli,  who 
were  celebrated  as  dentists,  used  to  perform  their  hideous,  but 
useful  and  gratuitous  operations,  which  might  be  witnessed  here 
every  morning  ! 

Over  the  side  entrance  of  Ara-Coeli  (of  1564)  is  a  beautiful  mosaic 
of  the  Virgin  and  Child  by  one  of  the  Cosmati.  This,  with  the 
ancient  brick  arches  above,  framing  fragments  of  deep  blue  sky — 
and  the  worn  steps  below — forms  a  subject  dear  to  Roman  artists, 
and  is  often  introduced  as  a  background  to  groups  of  monks  and 
peasants.     The  interior  of  the  church  is  vast,  solemn,  and  highly 


1  Hist.  Rom.  i.  382. 

2  The  Die»  Irae,  by  Tommaso  di  Celauo,  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

3  '  Per  gradus  qui  sunt  super  Calpurnium  fornicem.' 


Ara-Coeli  99 

picturesque.  It  was  here,  as  Gibbon  himself  tells  us,  that  on  the 
15th  of  October  1764,  as  he  sat  musing  amidst  the  ruins  of  the 
Capitol,  while  the  barefooted  friars  were  singing  vespers,  the  idea 
of  writing  the  '  Decline  and  Fall '  of  the  city  first  started  to  his 
mind. 

'As  we  lift  the  great  curtain  caiul  push  into  the  church,  a  faint  perfume  of 
hicense  salutes  the  nostrils.  The  golden  sunset  bursts  in  as  the  curtain  of  the 
(west)  door  sways  forward,  illuminates  tlie  mosaic  floor,  catches  on  the  rich 
golden  ceiling,  and  flashes  here  and  there  over  the  crowd  (gathered  in  Epiphany), 
on  some  brilliant  costume  or  closely  shaven  head.  All  sorts  of  people  are  throng- 
ing there,  some  Itneeling  before  the  shrine  of  the  Madonna,  which  gleams  with 
its  hundreds  of  silver  votive  hearts,  legs,  and  arms,  some  listening  to  the  preach- 
ing, some  crowding  round  the  chapel  of  the  Presepio.  Old  women,  haggard  and 
wrinkled,  come  tottering  along  with  their  scaldini  of  coals,  drop  down  on  their 
knees  to  pray,  and,  as  you  pass,  interpolate  in  their  prayers  a  parenthesis  of 
begging.  The  church  is  not  architecturally  handsome,  but  it  is  eminently 
picturesque,  with  its  relics  of  centuries,  its  mosaic  pulpit  and  floors,  its  frescoes 
of  Pinturicchio  and  Pesaro,  its  antique  columns,  its  rich  golden  ceiling,  its  gothic 
mausoleum  to  the  Savelli,  and  its  mediaeval  tombs.  A  dim,  dingy  look  is  over 
all— but  it  is  the  dimness  of  faded  splendour ;  and  one  cannot  stand  there, 
knowing  the  history  of  the  church,  its  great  antiquity,  and  the  varied  fortunes 
it  has  known,  without  a  peculiar  sense  of  interest  and  pleasure. 

'  It  was  here  that  Romulus,  in  the  grey  dawning  of  Rome,  built  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  Feretrius.  Here  the  spolia  opima  were  deposited.  Here  the  triumphal 
processions  of  the  emperors  and  generals  ended.  Here  the  victors  paused  before 
making  their  vows,  until,  from  the  Mamertine  prisons  below,  the  message  came 
to  announce  that  their  noblest  prisoner  and  victim — while  the  clang  of  their 
triumph  and  his  defeat  rose  ringing  in  his  ears  as  the  procession  ascended  the 
steps— had  expiated  with  death  the  crime  of  being  the  enemy  of  Rome.  On  the 
steps  of  Ara-Coeli,  nineteen  centuries  ago,  the  flrst  great  Caesar  climbed  on  his 
knees  after  his  ttrst  triumph.  At  their  base  Rienzi,  the  last  of  the  Roman  tribunes, 
fell— and  if  the  tradition  of  the  Church  is  to  be  trusted,  it  was  on  the  site  of 
the  present  high  altar  that  Augustus  erected  the  "Ara  Primogeniti  Dei,"  to 
commemorate  the  Delphic  prophecy  of  the  coming  of  our  Saviour.  Standing 
on  a  spot  so  thronged  with  memories,  the  dullest  imagination  takes  fire.  The 
forms  and  scenes  of  the  past  rise  from  their  graves  and  pass  before  us,  and  the 
actual  and  visionary  are  mingled  together  in  strange  poetic  confusion.' — Story's 
'  Eoba  di  Roma,'  i.  73. 

The  floor  of  the  church  is  of  the  ancient  mosaic  known  as  Opus 
Alexandrinum.  The  nave  is  separated  from  the  aisles  by  twenty-two 
ancient  columns,  of  which  two  are  of  cipollino,  two  of  white  marble, 
and  eighteen  of  Egyptian  granite.  They  are  of  very  different  forms 
and  sizes,  and  have  probabh'  been  collected  from  various  pagan 
edifices.  The  inscription  'A  Cubioulo  Augustorum,'  upon  the  third 
column  on  the  left  of  the  nave,  shows  that  it  was  brought  from  the 
Palace  of  the  Caesars.  The  fine  statues  of  Paul  III.  (left)  and 
Gregory  XIII.  (right)  were  removed  from  the  halls  of  the  Capitol 
in  1876.  The  windows  in  this  church  are  amongst  the  few  in  Eome 
which  show  traces  of  gothic.  At  the  end  of  the  nave  on  either  side 
are  two  ambones,  marking  the  position  of  the  choir  before  it  was 
extended  to  its  present  site  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  transepts  are  full  of  interesting  monuments.  That  on  the 
right  is  the  burial-place  of  the  great  family  of  Savelli,  and  contains 
— on  the  left,  the  monument  of  Luca  Savelli,  1266  (father  of  Pope 
Honorius  IV.),  and  his  son  Pandolfo — an  ancient  and  richly-sculp- 
tured sarcophagus,  to  which  a  gothic  canopy  was  added  by  Agostino 


100  Walks  in  Rome 

and  Agnolo  da  Siena  from  designs  of  Giotto.  Opposite  is  the  tomb 
of  the  mother  of  Honorius,  Vana  Aldobrandesca,  upon  which  is  the 
statue  of  the  Pope  himself,  removed  from  his  monument  in  the  old 
S.  Peter's  by  Paul  III. 

In  the  choir  are  two  columns  of  the  rare  marble  nero-antico.  On 
the  left  of  the  high  altar  is  the  tomb  of  Cardinal  Gianbattista 
Savelli,  ob.  14fls,  and  near  it— in  the  pavement— the  half-efifaced 
gravestone  of  Sigismondo  Conti,  whose  features  are  so  familiar  to 
us  from  his  portrait  introduced  into  the  famous  picture  of  the 
Madonna  di  Foligno,  which  was  painted  by  Raffaelle  at  his  order, 
and  presented  by  him  to  this  church,  where  it  remained  over  the 
high  altar  till  151)5,  when  his  great-niece  Anna  became  a  nun  at  the 
convent  of  the  Contesse  at  Foligno,  and  was  allowed  to  carry  it 
away  with  her.  In  the  east  transept  is  another  fine  gothic  tomb, 
that  of  Cardinal  Matteo  di  Acquasparta  (1.302),  a  General  of  the 
Franciscans,  mentioned  by  Pante  for  his  wise  and  moderate  rule.' 
The  quaint  temple-chapel  in  the  middle  of  this  transept,  now 
dedicated  to  S.  Helena,  is  supposed  to  occupy  the  site  of  the  '  Ara 
Primogeniti  Dei,'  to  commemorate  the  prophecy  of  the  Tiburtine 
Sibyl  to  Augustus.-  To  a  point  near  this  the  interesting  statue  of 
Leo"  X.,  by  the  Sicilian  Giacomo  della  Duca,  was  removed  from  the 
Halls  of  the  Conservators  in  1876.^ 

The  ambones  for  the  Epistle  and  the  Gospel  are  very  curious  and 
interesting,  and  are  beautiful  works  of  Lorenzo  and  Jacopo  Cosmati. 
Upon  the  pier  near  the  ambone  of  the  Gospel  is  the  monument  of 
Queen  Catherine  of  Bosnia,  who  died  at  Rome  in  1478,  bequeathing 
her  states  to  the  Roman  Church  on  condition  of  their  reversion  to 
her  son,  who  had  embraced  Mohammedanism,  if  he  should  return 
to  the  Catholic  faith.  Near  this,  against  the  transept  wall,  is  the 
tomb  of  Felice  de  Fredis,  ob.  1529,  upon  which  it  is  recorded  that 
he  was  the  finder  of  the  Laocoon.  The  Chapel  of  the  Annunciation, 
opening  from  the  west  aisle,  has  a  tomb  to  G.  Crivelli  by  Donatello, 
bearing  his  signature,  '  Opus  Donatelli  Florentini.'  The  Chapel 
of  Santa  Croce  is  the  burial-place  of  the  Ponziani  family,  and  was 
the  scene  of  the  celebrated  ecstasy  of  the  famous  Roman  saint 
Francesca  Romana. 

'  Tlie  mortal  remains  of  Vanozza  Ponziani  (sister-in-law  of  Francesca)  were  laid 
in  the  Church  of  Ara-Coeli,  in  the  Chapel  of  Santa  Croce.  The  Roman  people 
resorted  there  in  crowds  to  behold  once  more  their  loved  benefactress — the 
mother  of  the  poor,  the  consoler  of  the  afflicted.  All  strove  to  cany  away  some 
little  memorial  of  one  who  had  gone  aliout  among  them  doing  good,  and  during 
the  three  days  which  preceded  the  interment,  the  concourse  did  not  abate. 
On  the  day  of  the  funeral  Francesca  knelt  on  one  side  of  the  coffin,  and,  in  sight 
of  all  the  crowd,  she  was  wrapt  in  ecstasy.  They  saw  her  body  lifted  from  the 
groiuid,  and  a  seraphic  expression  on  her  uplifted  face.  They  heard  her  murmur 
several  times  with  an  indescribable  emphasis  the  word  '  Quando  ?  Quando  ? ' 

1  Paradiso,  canto  xii. 

2  They  appear  on  either  side  the  arch  above  the  high  altar. 

3  The  statue  of  Leo  X.  is  interesting  as  having  been  erected  to  this  popular 
art-loving  Pope  in  his  lifetime.  It  is  inscritied,  'Optimi  liberalissimique  ponti- 
tlcis  luemoriae.' 


Ara-Coeli  101 

When  all  was  over,  she  still  remained  immovable  ;  it  seemed  as  if  her  soul  had 
risen  on  the  wings  of  praj'er,  and  followed  Vanozza's  spirit  into  the  realms  of 
bliss.  At  last  her  confessor  ordered  her  to  rise  and  go  and  attend  on  the  sick. 
She  instantly  complied,  and  walked  away  to  the  hospital  which  she  had  founded, 
apparently  unconscious  of  everything  about  her,  and  only  roused  from  her 
trance  by  the  habit  of  obedience,  which,  in  or  out  of  ecstasy,  never  forsook  her.' 
— Lady  Georgiana  Pullertons  'Life  of  S.  Fi:  Jiomana.' 

There  are  several  good  pictures  over  the  altars  in  the  aisles  of 
Ara-Coeli.  In  the  Chapel  of  S.  Margaret  of  Cortona  are  frescoes 
illustrative  of  her  life  by  Filippo  Evangdisti, — in  that  of  S.  Antonio, 
frescoes  by  Niccolb  da  Pesaro  ;  but  no  one  should  omit  visiting  the 
first  chapel  on  the  right  of  the  west  door,  dedicated  to  S.  Bernardino 
of  Siena,  and  painted  by  Bertmrdino  Pinturicchio,  who  has  put  forth 
his  best  powers  to  do  honour  to  his  patron  saint  with  a  series  of 
exquisite  frescoes,  representing  his  assuming  the  monastic  habit, 
his  preaching,  his  vision  of  the  Saviour,  his  penitence,  death,  and 
burial. 

The  second  chapel  on  the  right  is  that  of  the  Delia  Valle  family, 
whose  most  celebrated  member  was  Pietro  della  Valle,  the  great 
traveller  of  the  seventeenth  century.  In  Persia  he  had  married  a 
beautiful  Georgian,  and,  on  her  death,  carried  her  body  about  with 
him  for  four  years,  even  taking  it  with  him  to  India,  and  eventually 
buried  it  here  with  great  pomp.  A  papal  coachman  having  insulted 
one  of  his  Turkish  servants,  he  killed  him  in  the  Piazza  Quirinale, 
under  the  very  eyes  of  Urban  VIII.,  who  was  about  to  give  his 
benediction  from  the  balcony.  Della  Valle  then  fled  to  Paliano, 
where  the  powerful  Colonnas  gave  him  a  refuge,  till  he  was  pardoned 
by  the  Pope,  on  the  intercession  of  Cardinal  Barberini,  and  thence- 
forth lived  in  Rome,  in  great  honour,  till  his  death  in  1652.  He 
left  several  children  by  his  second  wife,  a  young  cousin  of  his  first, 
who  intrusted  her  to  his  charge  upon  her  death-bed. 

Almost  opposite  this — closed  except  during  Epiphany — is  the 
Chapel  of  the  Presepio,  where  the  famous  image  of  the  Santissimo 
Bambino  d'  Ara-Coeli  is  shown  at  that  season  lying  in  a  manger. 
For  those  who  witness  this  sight  it  will  be  interesting  to  turn  to 
the  origin  of  a  Presepio. 

'  S.  Francis  asked  of  Pope  Honorius  III.  [1223],  with  his  usual  simplicity,  to 
be  allowed  to  celebrate  Christmas  with  certain  unusual  ceremonies  which  had 
suggested  themselves  to  him — ceremonies  which  he  must  have  thought  likely  to 
seize  upon  the  popular  imagination  and  impress  the  unlearned  folk.  He  would 
not  do  it  on  his  own  authority,  we  are  told,  lest  he  should  be  accused  of  levity. 
When  he  made  this  petition,  he  was  bound  for  the  village  of  Grecia,  a  little 
place  not  far  from  Assisi,  where  he  was  to  remain  during  that  sacred  season.  In 
this  village,  when  the  eve  of  the  Nativity  approached,  Francis  instructed  a  certain 
grave  and  worthy  man,  called  Giovanni,  to  prepare  an  ox  and  an  ass,  along  with 
a  manger  and  all  the  common  tittings  of  a  stable,  for  his  use,  in  the  church. 
When  the  solemn  night  ariived,  Francis  and  his  brethren  arranged  all  these 
things  into  a  visible  representation  of  the  occurrences  of  the  night  at  Bethlehem. 
The  manger  was  tilled  with  hay,  the  animals  were  led  into  their  places ;  the 
scene  was  prepared  as  we  see  it  now  through  all  the  churches  of  Southern  Italy — 
a  reproduction,  so  far  as  the  people  know  how,  in  startling  realistic  detail,  of 
the  surroundings  of  the  first  Christmas.  .  .  .  We  are  told  that  Francis  stood  by 
this,  his  simple  theatrical  (for  such  indeed  it  was— no  shame  to  him)  repre- 
sentation, all  the  night  lotig,  singing  for  joy,  and  filled  with  an  unspeakable 
sweetness.' — Mrs.  Oliphant,  '  S.  Francis.' 


102  Walks  in  Rome 

'  The  simple  meaning  of  the  term  Presepio  is  a  manger,  but  it  is  also  used  in 
the  Church  to  sifruify  a  representation  of  the  birth  of  Christ.  In  the  Ara-Coeli 
tlie  wliole  of  one  of  the  si(lccliai)t'ls  is  devoted  to  this  exhibition.  In  the  fore- 
KTOUiid  is  a  inotto,  in  wliioli  is  seated  the  Virgin  Mary,  witli  Joseph  at  her  side 
and  tlie  miraculous  Bambino  in  her  lap.  Immediately  lithind  her  an  ass  and  an 
ox.  On  one  side  kneel  the  shepherds  and  liings  in  adoration  ;  and  above,  God 
llic  Father  is  seen  surrounded  by  crowds  of  cherubs  and  anvils  playing  on  instru- 
ments, as  in  the  early  pictures  of  Kaffaelle.  In  the  background  is  a  scenic 
representation  of  a  pastoral  landscape,  on  which  all  the  skill  of  the  scene-painter 
is  expended.  Shepherds  guard  their  flock  far  away,  reposing  under  palm-trees  or 
standing  on  green  slopes  wliich  glow  in  the  sunshine.  The  distances  and  per- 
sjiective  are  admirable.  In  tlie  middle  ground  is  a  crystal  fountain  of  glass,  near 
which  sheep,  preternaturally  white,  and  made  of  real  wool  and  cotton  wool,  are 
feeding,  tended  by  figures  of  shepherds  carved  in  wood.  Still  nearer  come  women, 
bearing  great  liaskets  of  real  oranges  and  other  fruits  on  their  heads.  All  the 
nearer  figures  are  full-sized,  carved  in  wood,  painted,  and  dressed  in  appropriate 
rolies.  The  miraculous  Banil)ino  is  a  painted  doll  swaddled  in  a  white  dress,  which 
is  crusted  over  with  magniticcnt  dian]<jntls,  emeralds,  and  ruljies.  The  Virgin  also 
wears  in  her  ears  superb  dianiond  pendants.  The  general  effect  of  the  scenic 
show  is  admirable,  and  crowds  flock  to  it  and  press  about  it  all  day  long.' 

'  While  this  is  taking  place  on  oie  side  of  the  church,  on  the  other  is  a  very 
different  and  quite  as  singular  an  exhibition.  Around  one  of  the  antique 
columns  a  stage  is  erected,  from  whicli  little  maidens  are  reciting,  with  every 
kind  of  pretty  gesticulation,  sermons,  dialogues,  and  little  speeches,  in  explana- 
tion of  the  J'reaepio  opposite.  Sometimes  two  of  tliem  are  engaged  in  alternate 
(juestions  and  answers  al)out  the  mysteries  of  the  Incarnation  and  the  Redemp- 
tion. Sometimes  the  recitation  is  a  piteous  description  of  the  agony  of  the 
Saviour  and  the  sufferings  of  the  Madonna,  the  greatest  stress  l)eing,  however, 
always  laid  upon  the  latter.  All  these  little  speeches  have  been  written  for 
them  Ijy  their  priest  or  some  religious  friend,  committed  to  memory,  and 
practised  with  appropriate  gestures  over  and  over  again  at  home.  Their  little 
piping  voices  are  sometimes  guilty  of  such  comic  breaks  and  changes,  that  the 
crowd  about  them  rustles  into  a  murmurous  laughter.  Sometimes,  also,  one  of 
the  little  preachers  has  a  diapetto,  pouts,  shakes  her  shoulders,  and  refuses  to  go 
on  with  her  part ;— another,  however,  always  stands  ready  on  the  platform  to 
supply  the  vacancy,  until  friends  have  coaxed,  reasoned,  or  threatened  the  little 
pouter  into  obedience.  These  children  are  often  very  beautiful  and  graceful, 
and  tlieir  comical  little  gestures  and  intonations,  their  clasping  of  hands  and 
rolling  up  of  eyes,  have  a  very  amusing  and  interesting  effect. — Story's  ^  Roba  di 
Jioiiia.' 

At  other  times  the  Bambino  dwells  in  the  inner  Sacristy,  where 
it  can  be  visited  by  admiring  pilgrims.  It  is  a  fresh-coloured  doll, 
tightly  swathed  in  gold  and  silver  tissue,  crowned,  and  sparkling 
with  jewels.  It  has  servants  of  its  own,  and  a  carriage  in  which  it 
drives  out  with  its  attendants,  and  goes  to  visit  the  sick  ;  for, 
though  an  infant,  it  is  the  oldest  medical  practitioner  in  Rome. 
Devout  peasants  alwaj's  kneel  as  the  blessed  infant  passes. 
Formerly  it  was  taken  to  sick  persons  and  left  on  their  beds  for 
some  hours,  in  the  hope  that  it  would  work  a  miracle.  Now  it  is 
never  left  alone.  In  explanation  of  this,  it  is  said  that  an  audacious 
woman  formed  the  design  of  appropriating  to  herself  the  holy 
image  and  its  benefits.  She  had  another  doll  prepared  of  the  same 
size  and  appearance  as  the  '  Santissimo,'  and  having  feigned  sick- 
ness, and  obtained  permission  to  have  it  left  with  her,  she  dressed 
the  false  image  in  its  clothes,  and  sent  it  back  to  Ara-Coeli.     The 

'  Till  late  years  the  figures  of  Augustus  and  the  Sibyl  appeared  in  the  front 
of  the  Pregepio  pointing  to  the  Holy  Child. 


II  Santissimo  Bambino  103 

fraud  was  not  discovered  till  night,  when  the  Franciscan  monks 
were  awakened  by  the  most  furious  ringing  of  bells  and  by  thunder- 
ing knocks  at  the  west  door  of  the  church,  and  hastening  thither, 
could  see  nothing  but  a  wee  naked  pink  foot  peeping  in  from  under 
the  door  ;  but  when  they  opened  the  door,  without  stood  the  little 
naked  figure  of  the  true  Bambino  of  Ara-Coeli,  shivering  in  the 
wind  and  rain, — so  the  false  baby  was  sent  back  in  disgrace,  and 
the  real  baby  restored  to  its  home,  never  to  be  trusted  away  alone 
any  more. 

In  the  Sacristy  is  the  following  inscription  relating  to  the 
Bambino  : — 

'Ad  hoc  sacellum  Arae  Coeli  a  festo  Nativitatis  Domini  usque  ad  festum 
Epiphaniae  magna  populi  frequentia  invisitur  et  colitur  in  presepio  Christi  nati 
infantuli  simulacrum  ex  oleae  ligno  apud  montem  olivaium  Hierosolymis  a 
quodam  devoto  llinorita  sculptum  eo  animo,  ut  ad  hoc  festum  celebrandum 
deportaretur.  De  quo  in  priniis  lioc  accidit,  quod  deticiente  colore  inter  bar- 
l)aras  gentes  ad  plenam  infantuli  tigurationera  et  formani,  devotus  et  anxius 
artifex,  professione  laicus,  precibus  et  orationibus  impetravit,  ut  sacrum  divini- 
tus  carneo  colore  perfunctum  reperiretur.  CunKjue  navi  Italian!  veheretur, 
facto  naufragio  apud  Tusciae  oras,  simulacri  capsa  Liburnum  aiqnilit.  Ex  quo, 
recognita,  expectabatnr  enim  a  Fratribus,  et  jam  fama  illius  a  Hierosolymis  ad 
nostrae  familiae  partes  advenerat,  ad  destinatam  sibi  Capitolii  sedem  devenit. 
I'ertur  etiam,  quod  aliqiumdo  ex  nimia  devotione  a  quadam  devota  foemina 
sublatum  ad  suas  aedes  niiraculose  remeaverit.  Quapropter  in  maxima  venera- 
tione  semper  est  habitum  a  Ronianis  civibus,  et  universo  populo  donatum 
monilibus,  et  focalibus  pretiosis,  liberalioribusque  in  dies  prosequitur  obla- 
tionibus.' 

The  outer  Sacristy  contains  a  iine  picture  of  the  '  Holy  Family,' 
by  Giulio  Romano.  Removed  to  the  Capitoline  Museum  from  this 
church  is  an  altar  dedicated  to  Isis  by  a  traveller  wlio  had  returned 
in  safety.  It  bore  two  footprints,  which  tradition  declared  to  be 
those  of  the  angel  seen  by  S.  Gregory  on  the  top  of  the  mausoleum 
of  Hadrian. 

The  scene  on  the  long  flight  of  steps  which  leads  to  the  west 
door  of  Ara-Coeli  is  very  curious  during  Epiphany. 

'  If  any  one  visit  the  Ara-Coeli  during  an  afternoon  in  Christmas  or  Epiphany, 
the  scene  is  very  striking.  The  flight  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  steps  is 
then  thronged  by  merchants  of  Madonna  wares,  who  spread  them  out  over  the 
steps  and  hang  them  against  the  walls  and  balustrades.  Here  are  to  be  seen 
all  sorts  of  curious  little  coloured  prints  of  the  Madonna  and  Child  of  the  most 
extraordinary  quality,  little  bags,  pewter  medals,  and  crosses  stamped  with  the 
same  figures  and  to  be  worn  on  the  neck — all  offered  at  once  for  the  sum  of  one 
baiocco.  Here  also  are  framed  pictures  of  the  saints,  of  the  Nativity,  and  in 
a  word  of  all  sorts  of  religious  sul)jects  appertaining  to  the  season.  Little  wax 
dolls,  clad  in  cotton-wool,  to  represent  the  Saviour,  and  sheep  made  of  the  same 
materials,  are  also  sold  by  the  basketful.  Children  and  Contadini  are  busy 
buying  them,  and  there  is  a  deafening  roar  all  up  and  down  the  steps,  of 
"Mezzo  baiocco,  bello  colorito,  mezzo  baiocco,  la  Santissinia  Concezione  Incoro- 
nata," — "  Diario  Romano,  Lunario  Romano  nuovo," — "  Ritratto  colorito,  med- 
aglia  e  quadruccio  un  baiocco  tutti,  un  baiocco  tutti," — "  Bambinello  di  cera,  un 
baiocco."  None  of  the  prices  are  higher  than  one  baiocco,  except  to  strangers, 
and  generally  several  articles  are  held  up  together,  enumerated,  and  proffered 
with  a  loud  voice  for  this  sum.  Meanwhile  men,  women,  children,  priests, 
beggars,  soldiers,  and  villani  are  crowding  up  and  down,  and  we  crowd  with 
them. ' — Moba  di  Roma,  i.  72. 


104  Walks  in  Rome 

•  On  the  tith  of  .lanuury  the  lofty  steps  of  Ara-Coeli  looked  like  an  anthill,  so 
throngcil  won-  they  with  people.  Men  and  boys  who  sold  little  books  (legends 
.■iiid  prayers),  rosaries,  pictures  of  saints,  medallions,  chestnuts,  oranges,  and 
other  things.'shouted  and  made  a  great  noise.  Little  boys  and  girls  were  still 
pniuhing  zealously  in  the  church,  and  people  of  all  classes  were  crowding 
thither.  Processions  advanced  with  the  thundering  cheerful  music  of  the  lire- 
orps.  II  Bambino,  a  painted  image  of  wood,  covered  with  jewels,  and  with  a 
yellow  cnuvn  on  its  head,  was  carried  by  a  monk  in  white  gloves,  and  exhibited 
tn  til.'  ii.di'le  from  a  kind  of  altar-like  erection  at  the  top  of  the  Ara-Coeli  steps. 
KviiylicMly  dropped  down  upon  their  knees ;  II  Bambino  was  shown  on  all  sides, 
the  music"  thundered,  and  the  smoking  censers  were  swung.'— FredeHto  Bremer. 

These  steps,  brought  from  the  Quirinal,  are  the  only  public  work 
executed  in  Rome  during  the  residence  of  the  Popes  at  Avignon, 
and  were  a  votive  offering  to  the  Madonna  of  Ara-Coeli,  after  the 
deliverance  of  Kome  froiu  the  plague. 

The  Convent  of  Ara-Coeli  was  wantonly  destroyed  in  1886,  to- 
gether with  the  noble  tower  of  Paul  III.,  which  rose  so  grandly  at 
the  end  of  the  Corso,  to  mal'e  way  for  an  uninteresting  and  uttierly 
misplaced  monument  to  Victor  Emmanuel  II.,  which  is  wholly  out 
of  place  on  the  Roman  Capitol,  though  it  might  well  have  been 
erected  in  one  of  the  dreary  squares  of  his  own  new  town.  The 
destroyed  convent  contained  much  that  was  picturesque  and  inte- 
resting in  its  noble  gothic  cloisters,  curious  well,  &c.,  and  was 
especially  dear  to  all  Catholic  Christians,  as  always  having  been 
the  residence  of  the  General  of  the  Franciscan  Order.  S.  Giovanni 
Capistrano  was  abbot  here  in  the  reign  of  Eugenius  IV. 

Let  us  now  descend  from  the  Capitoline  Piazza  towards  the 
Forum,  by  the  staircase  on  the  left  of  the  Palace  of  the  Senator. 
Close  to  the  foot  of  this  staircase  is  a  church,  very  obscure-looking, 
with  some  rude  frescoes  on  the  exterior.  Yet  every  one  must  enter 
this  building,  for  here  are  the  famous  Mamertine  Prisons  (so  called 
from  a  statue  of  Mars  or  Mamers,  which  also  gave  a  name  to  the 
Via  di  Marforio),  excavated  from  the  solid  rock  under  the  Capitol. 

The  prisons  are  entered  through  the  low  church  of  S.  Pietro  in 
Carcere,  hung  round  with  votive  offerings  and  blazing  with  lamps. 

'There  is  an  upper  chamlier  in  the  Mamertine  Prisons,  over  what  is  said  to 
have  been— and  very  possibly  may  have  been — the  dungeon  of  S.  Peter.  This 
chamber  is  now  fitted  up  as  an  oratory,  dc<licated  to  that  saint ;  and  it  lives  as 
a  distinct  and  separate  place  in  my  rt(<ilk'ction,  too.  It  is  very  small  and  low- 
roofed  ;  and  the  dread  and  gloom  of  the  ixindcrous,  ol)durate  old  prison  are  on  it, 
as  if  they  had  come  up  in  a  dark  mist  through  the  floor.  Hanging  on  the  walls, 
among  the  clustered  votive  offerings,  are  objects  at  once  strangely  in  keeping 
and  strangely  at  variance  with  the  place— rusty  daggers,  knives,  pistols,  clubs, 
divers  instruments  of  violence  and  murder,  brought  here  fresh  from  use,  and 
hung  up  to  propitiate  offended  Heaven  ;  as  if  the  blood  upon  them  would  drain 
olf  in  consecrated  air,  and  have  no  voice  to  cry  with.  It  is  all  so  silent  and  so 
close  and  t<miblike,  and  the  dnutreons  below  are  so  black,  and  stealthy,  and 
stagnant,  and  naked,  that  this  little  dark  spot  becomes  a  dream  within  a  dream  : 
and  in  the  vision  of  great  churches  which  come  rolling  past  me  like  a  sea,  it  is  a 
small  wave  by  itself,  that  melts  into  no  other  wave,  and  does  not  flow  with  the 
rest.' — Dickens. 

Enclosed  in  the  church,  near  the  entrance,  may  be  observed  the 
outer  frieze  of  the  prison  wall,  with  the  inscription  c .  viBius .  c .  F  . 
EUFINUS .  SI .  cocCEius .  NKEVA  .  COS .  EX .  s .  c,  recording  the  names 


Mamertine  Prisons  105 

of  two  consuls  of  a.d.  22,  who  are  supposed  to  have  repaired  the 
prison.  This  is  the  prison — career  .  .  .  media  urbc  imminens  foro — 
mentioned  by  Livy.^  Juvenal's  description  of  the  times  when  one 
prison  was  sufficient  for  all  the  criminals  in  Eome  naturally  refers 
to  this  building : 

'  Felices  proavorum  atavos,  felicia  dicas 
Saecula,  quae  ciuomiam  sub  regibus  atijue  tribunis 
Videruut  uno  contentam  carcere  Eoniam.' 

—Sat.  iii.  312. 

A  modern  staircase  leads  to  the  horrible  dungeon  of  Ancus 
Martius,  sixteen  feet  in  height,  thirty  in  length,  and  twenty-two  in 
breadth.  Originally  there  was  no  staircase,  and  the  prisoners  were 
let  down  here,  and  hence  into  the  lower  dungeon,  through  a  hole 
in  the  middle  of  the  ceiling.  The  large  door  at  the  side  is  a  modern 
innovation,  having  been  opened  to  admit  the  vast  mass  of  pilgrims 
during  the  festa.  The  whole  prison  is  constructed  of  huge  blocks 
of  tufa  without  cement.  Some  remains  are  shown  of  the  Scalae 
Gemoniae — so  called  from  the  groans  of  the  prisoners — by  which 
the  bodies  were  dragged  forth  to  be  exposed  to  the  insults  of  the 
populace  or  to  be  thrown  into  the  Tiber.  It  was  by  this  staircase 
that  Cicero  came  forth  and  announced  the  execution  of  the  Cati- 
line conspirators  to  the  people  in  the  Forum,  by  the  single  word 
Vixerunt  ('They  have  ceased  to  live').  Close  to  the  exit  of  these 
stairs  the  Emperor  Vitelliiis  was  murdered — hacked  to  pieces — 
where  he  had  caused  the  death  of  Flavius  Sabinus,  the  brother  of 
Vespasian.  On  the  wall  by  which  you  descend  to  the  lower  dungeon 
is  a  mark,  kissed  by  the  faithful,  as  a  spot  against  which  S.  Peter's 
head  rested.  The  lower  prison,  called  Robur,  is  constructed  of  huge 
blocks  of  tufa,  which  originally  met  in  a  conical  roof,  but  are  now 
fastened  together  by  cramps  of  iron,  and  approach  horizontally  to 
a  common  centre.  It  has  been  attributed  from  early  times  to 
Servius  Tullius  ;  but  Ampere"  argues  against  the  idea  that  the 
lower  prison  was  of  later  origin  than  the  upper,  and  suggests  that 
it  is  Pelasgic,  and  older  than  any  other  building  in  Rome.  It  is 
described  by  Livy  and  by  Sallust,  who  depicts  its  horrors  in  his 
account  of  the  execution  of  the  Catiline  conspirators.^  The  spot  is 
shown  to  which  these  victims  were  attached  and  strangled  in  turn. 
In  this  dungeon,  at  an  earlier  period,  Appius  Claudius  and  Oppius 
the  decemvirs  committed  suicide  (B.C.  449).  Here  Jugurtha,  king 
of  Mauritania,  was  starved  to  death  by  Marius,  and  exclaimed  when 
he  found  the  bottom  of  his  cell  covered  with  water,  '  Hercules,  how 
cold  your  bath  is  ! '  Here  Julius  Caesar,  during  his  triumph  for 
the  conquest  of  Gaul,  caused  his  gallant  enemy  Vercingetorix  to  be 

1  1.  33. 

2  Hist.  Rom. 

s  'Est  locus  in  carcere  quod  Tullianum  appellatur,  ubi  paululum  desceiideris 
ad  laevam,  circiter  duodecim  pedes  hum!  depressus.  Eum  niuninnt  undique 
parietes,  atque  insuper  camera  lapideis  fornicibus  vincta  ;  sed  iiicultu,  tenebris, 
odore  foeda  atque  terribilis  ejus  fades  est.' — Sail.  Catil.  Iv. 


106  Walks  in  Rome 

put  to  death.  Here  Sejanus,  the  friend  and  minister  of  Tiberius, 
disgraced  too  late,  was  executed  for  the  murder  of  Drusus,  son  of 
the  emperor,  and  for  an  intrigue  with  his  daughter-in-law,  Livilla. 
Here  also,  Simon  Bar-Gioras,  the  last  defender  of  Jerusalem,  suf- 
fered during  the  triumph  of  Titus. 

'Pourquoi  les  guides  et  les  anti<iuaires  qui  nous  out  si  souvent  niontre  la  voie 
trioninliale  iiui  mene  au  Capitolu  et  nous  en  out  tant  (ie  fois  6nuni6re  les  sou- 
venirs pouriiuoi  aucun  d'eux  ne  nous  a-t-il  jamais  parle  de  ce  qui  survint  le 
jour  du  trioniphe  de  Titus,  li-bas,  pres  des  prisons  .MamertinesV  Laissez-moi 
vous  rappeler  que  ce  jour-li  le  triomphateur,  au  moment  de  monter  au  temple, 
devant  verser  le  sang  d'une  victime,  s'arreta  ti  cette  place,  tandis  que.  Ton  de- 
tacliait  de  son  cortege  un  captif  de  plus  haute  taille  et  plus  richement  vetu  que 
les  autres,  et  qu'on  I'emmenait  dans  cette  prison  pour  y  achever  son  supplies 
avec  le  lacet  meme  qu'il  portait  autour  du  cou.  Ce  ne  fut  qu'apres  cette  immo- 
lation (pie  le  cortege  veprit  sa  marche  et  acheva  de  monter  jusqu'au  Capitole  ! 
Ce  captif  dont  on  ne  daigne  nous  parler,  cetait  Simon  Bar-Gioras  ;  c'etaitun  des 
trois  derniers  defenseurs  de  Jerusalem;  c'etait  un  de  ceux  qui  la  defendirent 
jusqu'au  l)out,  mais  helas  !  ([ui  I'l  defendirent  comme  des  demons  maitres  d'une 
ame  de  laquelle  ils  ne  veulent  pas  se  laisser  chasser,  et  non  point  comme  des 
champions  heroiques  d'une  cause  sacree  et  perdue.  Aussi  cette  grandeur  que  la 
seule  infortune  suftit  souvent  pour  donner,  elle  manque  a  la  calamite  la  plus 
graude  que  le  monde  ait  vue.  et  les  noms  attaches  a  cette  immense  catastrophe 
ne  demeurerent  pas  mume  fameux  !  .Jean  de  Giscala,  Eleazar,  Simon  Bar-Gioras  : 
qui  pense  a  eux  aujourd'hui  ?  L'univers  eTitier  proclame  et  venere  les  noms  de 
deux  pauvres  Juifs  qui,  (luatre  ans  auparavaut,  dans  cette  meme  prison,  avaient 
eux  aussi  attendu  le  supplice  ;  mais  le  malheur,  le  courage,  le  mort  tragique  des 
autres,  ne  leur  out  point  doiuie  la  gloire,  et  un  dedaigneux  oubli  les  a  effaces  de  la 
memoire  des  hommes  V—Mis.  Axigitstus  Craven,  'Anne  Severin.' 

'  Along  the  sacred  way 
Hither  the  triumph  came,  and,  winding  round 
With  acclamation,  and  the  martial  clang 
Of  instruments,  and  cars  laden  with  spoil, 
Stopi)ed  at  the  sacred  stair  that  then  appeared. 
Then  thro'  the  darkness  broke,  ample,  star-bright. 
As  tho'  it  led  to  heaven.     'Twas  night ;  but  now 
A  thousand  torches,  turning  night  to  day. 
Blazed,  and  the  victor,  springing  from  his  seat, 
Went  up,  and,  kneeling  as  in  fervent  prayer, 
Entered  the  Capitol.     But  what  are  they 
Who  at  the  foot  withdrawn,  a  mournful  train 
In  fetters?    And  who,  yet  incredulous, 
Now  gazing  wildly  round,  now  on  his  sons. 
On  those  so  young,  well  pleased  with  all  they  see. 
Staggers  along,  the  last  ?    They  are  the  fallen. 
Those  who  were  spared  to  grace  the  chariot-wheels ; 
And  there  they  parted,  where  the  road  divides, 
The  victor  and  the  vanquished— there  withdrew  ; 
He  to  the  festal  board,  and  they  to  die. 

Well  might  the  great,  the  mighty  of  the  world, 
They  who  were  wont  to  fare  deliciously 
And  war  but  for  a  kingdom  more  or  less. 
Shrink  back,  nor  from  their  thrones  endure  to  look, 
To  think  that  way  !    Well  might  they  in  their  pomp 
Humble  themselves,  and  kneel  and  supplicate 
To  be  delivered  from  a  dream  like  this  ! ' 

— Rogers'  'Italy.' 

Here  Pliny  records  the  devotion  of  a  dog,  which  watched  with- 
out food  by  the  dead  body  of  his  master  for  three  days  and 
nights  ;  and  afterwards,  when  the  body  was  thrown  into  the  Tiber, 


Mamertine  Prisons  107 

dived  beneath,  and  was  drowned  in  trying  to  support  it,  all  Rome 
looking  on. 

The  spot  is  more  interesting  to  the  Christian  world  as  the  prison 
of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  who  are  said  to  have  been  bound  for  nine 
months  to  a  pillar,  which  is  shown  here.  A  fountain  of  excellent 
water,  beneath  the  floor  of  the  prison,  is  attributed  to  the  prayers 
of  S.  Peter,  that  he  might  have  wherewith  to  baptize  his  gaolers, 
Processus  and  Martinianus  ;  but,  unfortunately  for  this  ecclesi- 
astical tradition,  the  fountain  is  described  by  Plutarch  as  having 
existed  at  the  time  of  Jugurtha's  imprisonment.  This  fountain 
probably  gave  the  dungeon  the  name  of  TuUianum,  by  which  it 
was  sometimes  known,  fuZ^JMs  meaning  a  spring. i  Livy- mentions 
a  prisoner  being  put  in  the  Tullianuiu.  This  name  probably  gave 
rise  to  the  idea  of  the  connection  of  the  prison  with  Servius  Tullius. 
A  thin  layer  of  lime  is  used  in  the  construction  as  mortar. 

It  is  hence  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  believes  that  S.  Peter 
and  S.  Paul  addressed  their  farewells  to  the  Christian  world. 

That  of  S.  Peter  :— 

'  Shortly  I  must  put  off  tliis  tabernacle,  even  as  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath 
showed  me.  Moreover  I  will  endeavour  that  ye  may  be  able  after  my  decease 
to  have  these  things  always  in  remembrance.  For  we  have  not  followed  cun- 
ningly devised  fables,  when  we  made  known  to  you  the  power  and  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  .  .  .  Nevertheless  we,  according  to  His  promise,  look  for  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness.' — 2nd  S.  Peter. 

That  of  S.  Paul  :— 

'  God  hath  not  given  us  a  spirit  of  fear.  ...  Be  not  thou,  therefore,  ashamed 
of  the  testimony  of  our  Lord,  nor  of  me  His  prisoner ;  but  be  thou  partaker  of 
the  afflictions  of  the  gospel  according  to  the  power  of  God.  ...  I  suffer  trouble 
as  an  evil-doer,  even  unto  bonds  ;  but  the  word  of  God  is  not  bound.  Therefore 
I  endure  all  things,  for  the  elect's  sake,  that  they  also  may  obtain  the  salvation 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  ...  I  charge  thee  by  God  and  by  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  .  .  .  preach  the  word  ;  be 
instant  in  season,  out  of  season  ;  reprove,  rebuke,  exhort  with  all  long-suffering 
and  doctrine ;  .  .  .  watch  in  all  things,  endure  afflictions,  do  the  work  of  an 
evangelist,  make  full  proof  of  thy  ministry.  For  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered, 
and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have 
finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith.'— 2nd  Timothy. 

On  July  4,  the  prisons  are  the  scene  of  a  picturesque  solemnity, 
when  they  are  visited  at  night  by  the  religious  confraternities,  who 
first  kneel  and  then  prostrate  themselves  in  silent  devotion. 

Other  chambers  under  the  Vicolo  del  Ghettarello  have  recently 
been  discovered,  which  were  probably  an  extension  of  the  ancient 
prison. 

Above  the  Church  of  S.  Pietro  in  Carcere  is  that  of  S.  Giuseppe 
del  Falegnami,  S.  Joseph  of  the  Carpenters. 


1  See  Ampere,  Hist.  Rom.  ii.  31.  2  xxix.  22. 


CHAPTER   IV 
THE  FORUMS  AND  THE  COLISEUM 

Forum  of  Tiajaii-(S.  ^^!lria  di  Loieto)— Temple  of  Mars  Ultor— Forum  of 
Augustus— Forum  of  Nerva— Forum  of  Julius  Caesar— (Academy  of  S.  Luke) 
— Foruui  Koniauum—Tribuue—Comitium—Vulcaual— Temple  of  Concord— 
Tem])le  of  Vespasian— Temple  of  Saturn— Arch  of  Septimius  Severus— 
Temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux— Temple  of  Vesta— House  of  the  Vestals- 
Pillar  of  Phocas — Temple  oi  Antoninus  and  Faustina— Temple  of  Romulus — 
Temple  Sacrae  Urbis— Basilica  of  Constantine— (fS.  Martina— S.  Adriano— 
S.  Maria  Liberatrice— SS.  Cosmo  and  Bamian— S.  Francesca  Komana) — 
Temple  of  Venus  and  Kome— Arch  of  Titus— (S.  Maria  Pallara— S.  Buona- 
ventura)— Meta  Sudans— Arch  of  Constantine— Coliseum. 

FOLLOWING  the  Corso  to  its  end  at  the  Ripresa  dei  Barberi, 
and  turning  to  the  left,  we  find  ourselves  at  once  amid  the 
remains  of  the  Forum  of  Trajan,  erected  by  the  architect  Apollo- 
dorus  for  the  Emperor  Trajan  on  his  return  from  the  wars  of  the 
Danube.  This  forum  now  presents  the  appearance  of  a  ravine 
between  the  Capitoline  and  Quirinal,  but  is  an  artificial  hollow, 
excavated  to  facilitate  the  circulation  of  life  within  the  city.  An 
inscription  over  the  door  of  the  column,  which  overtops  the  other 
ruins,  shows  that  it  was  raised  in  order  to  mark  the  depth  of  earth 
which  was  removed  to  construct  the  forum.  The  earth,  forming  a 
barrier  between  the  two  parts  of  the  town,  was  formerly  as  high  as 
the  top  of  the  column,  which  reaches  (140  feet)  to  the  level  of  the 
Palatine  Hill.  The  forum  was  sometimes  called  the  'Ulpian,'  from 
one  of  the  names  of  the  emperor. 

'  Before  the  year  a.d.  107  the  splendours  of  the  city  and  the  Campus  beyond  it 
were  still  separated  by  a  narrow  isthmus,  thronged  perhaps  by  the  squalid  cabins 
of  the  poor,  and  surmounted  by  the  remains  of  the  Servian  wall  which  ran  along 
its  sumnnt.  Step  by  step  the  earlier  emperors  had  approached  with  their  new 
forums  to  the  foot  of  this  obstruction.  Domitian  was  tlie  first  to  contemplate 
and  commence  its  removal.  Nerva  had  the  fortune  to  consecrate  and  to  give 
his  own  name  to  a  portion  of  his  predecessor's  construction  ;  but  Trajan  under- 
took to  complete  the  bold  design,  and  the  genius  of  his  architect  triumphed  over 
all  obstacles,  and  executed  a  work  which  exceeded  in  extent  and  splendour  any 
previous  achievement  of  the  kind.  He  swept  away  every  building  on  the  site, 
levelled  the  spot  on  which  tliey  had  stood,  and  laid  out  a  vast  area  of  columnar 
galleries,  connecting  lialls  and  chambers  for  public  use  and  recreation.  The  new 
forum  was  adorned  with  two  libraries,  one  of  Greek,  the  other  of  Roman  volumes, 
and  it  was  bounded  on  the  west  by  a  basilica  of  magnificent  dimensions.  Beyond 
tliis  basilica,  and  within  the  limits  of  the  Campus,  the  same  architect  (Apollo- 
dorus)  erected  a  temple  for  the  worship  of  Trajan  himself ;  but  this  work  pro- 
bably belonged  to  the  reign  of  Trajan's  successor,  and  no  doubt  the  lilpian 
forum,  with  all  its  adjuncts,  occupied  many  years  in  building.  The  area  >v'as 
adorned  with  numerous  statues,  in  which  the  figure  of  Trajan  was   frequently 

108 


Column  of  Trajan  109 

repeated,  and  among  its  decorations  were  groups  in  bronze  or  marble,  repre- 
senting liis  most  illustrious  actions.  The  balustrades  and  cornices  of  the  whole 
mass  of  buildings  flamed  with  gilded  images  of  arms  and  horses.  Here  stood 
the  great  eciuestrian  statue  of  the  emperor  ;  here  was  the  triumphal  arch 
decreed  him  by  the  senate,  adorned  with  sculpture,  which  Constantine,  two 
centuries  later,  transferred  without  a  blush  to  his  own,  a  barbarous  act  of  this 
first  Christian  emperor,  to  which,  however,  we  probably  owe  their  preservation 
to  this  day  from  more  barbarous  spoliation.' — Menvale,  '■Romans  under  the 
Umpire,'  ch.  Ixiii. 

The  beautiful  Column  of  Trajan,  the  best  of  Roman  princes, 
called  Columna  Cochlis,  from  its  winding  stairs  like  the  spiral  of 
a  shell,  was  erected  by  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome  a.d.  114,  to 
show  the  height  of  the  mound  levelled  by  the  emperor — ad  dcclar- 
andum  quantae  altitiulinis  mons  et  locus  sit  egestus.  It  is  composed  of 
thirty-four  blocks  of  marble,  and  is  covered  with  a  spiral  band  of 
bas-reliefs  illustrative  of  the  Dacian  wars,  and  increasing  in  size  as 
it  nearsthe  top,  so  that  it  preserves  throughout  the  same  proportion 
when  seen  from  below.  It  was  formerly  crowned  by  a  statue  of 
Trajan,  holding  a  gilt  globe,  which  latter  is  still  preserved  in  the 
Hall  of  Bronzes  in  the  Capitol.  The  statue  had  fallen  from  its 
pedestal  long  before  Sixtus  V.  replaced  it  by  the  existing  figure  of 
S.  Peter.  At  the  foot  of  the  column  was  a  sepulchral  chamber, 
intended  to  receive  the  imperial  ashes,  which  were,  however,  pre- 
served in  a  golden  urn,  upon  an  altar  in  front  of  it.' 

'  Apostolic  statues  climb 
To  crush  the  imperial  urn,  whose  ashes  slept  sul)lime.' 

— Childe  Harold,  ex. 

The  triumphal  Arch  of  Trajan,  which  formed  the  entrance  to  the 
forum,  was  destroyed  in  1526. 

'  The  forum  of  Trajan  comprised  seven  different  sections,  namely,  the  pro- 
pylaia,  or  triumphal  arch  of  the  emperor  ;  the  sijuare  itself,  with  the  equestrian 
statue  in  the  middle  ;  the  Basilica  Ulpia  ;  the  Bil)liotheca  Ulpia  ;  the  two  hemi- 
cycles  ;  the  monumental  column  ;  and  tlie  temple  of  Trajan.  The  ensemble  of 
these  various  sections  was  considered  not  only  the  masterpiece  of  Roman  archi- 
tecture of  the  golden  age,  but  one  of  the  marvels  of  the  world.  Let  me  quote 
the  words  with  which  Ammianus  Marcellinus  (xvi.  10)  describes  the  impression 
felt  l)y  the  Emperor  Constantine  at  the  first  sight  of  the  group.  "Having  now 
entered  the  forum  of  Trajan,  the  most  marvellous  invention  of  human  genius, — 
sinffularem  sub  omni  coelo  structuram, — he  was  struck  with  admiration,  and 
looked  round  with  amazement,  without  being  able  to  utter  a  word,  wondering  at 
the  gigantic  structures, — giganteos  contextus,— which  no  pen  can  describe,  and 
which  mankind  can  create  and  see  only  once  in  the  course  of  centuries.  Having 
consequently  given  up  any  hope  of  building  himself  anything  which  would 
approach,  even  at  a  respectful  distance,  the  work  of  Trajan,  he  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  equestrian  statue  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  forum,  and  said  to  his 
attendants  that  he  would  have  one  like  it  in  Constantinople."  These  words 
having  been  heard  by  Hemiisdas,  a  young  Persian  prince  attached  to  his  court, 
he  turned  quickly  tovi^ards  the  emperor,  and  said,  "If  your  Majesty  wants  to 
secure  and  keep  such  a  horse,  you  must  first  provide  him  with  a  stable  like 
this."  ' — Lanciani,  '  Ancient  Home. ' 

It  was  while  walking  in  this  forum  that  Gregory  the  Great, 
observing  one  of  the  marble  groups  which  told  of  a  good  and  great 

1  There  are  some  who  believe  that  the  ashes  of  the  emperor,  in  their  golden 
urn,  would  even  now  be  found  buried  in  front  of  the  column  wliich  was  erected 
in  his  lifetime. 


110  Walks  in  Rome 

action  of  Trajan,  lamented  bitterly  that  the  soul  of  so  noble  a  man 
should  be  lost,  and  prayed  earnestly  for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen 
emperor.  He  was  told"  that  the  soul  of  Trajan  should  be  saved,  but 
thai  to  ensure  this  he  must  either  himself  undergo  the  pains  of 
purgatory  for  three  days,  or  suffer  earthly  pain  and  sickness  for  the 
rest  of  his  life.  He  chose  the  latter,  and  never  after  was  in  health. 
This  incident  is  narrated  by  his  three  biographers,  John  and  Paul 
Diaconus,  and  John  of  Salisbury,  and  is  most  picturesquely  told  by 
Dante  in  the  10th  canto  of  the  '  Purgatorio.' 

The  forum  of  Trajan  was  partly  uncovered  by  Pope  Paul  III.  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  but  excavated  in  its  present  form  by  the 
French  in  1812.  Behind  the  houses  on  the  Quirinal  side  of  the 
forum,  remains  of  early-curved  buildings,  three  storeys  high,  may  be 
seen,  opening  on  an  ancient  road  paved  with  polygonal  blocks  of 
lava :  they  belong  to  one  of  the  two  hemicycles  raised  by  Apollo- 
dorus  on  either  side  the  forum.  There  is  much  still  buried  under 
the  streets  and  neighbouring  houses. 

'  All  over  the  surface  of  what  once  was  Rome  it  seems  to  be  the  effort  of  Time 
to  bury  up  the  ancient  city,  as  if  it  were  a  corpse,  and  he  the  sexton  ;  so  that,  in 
eighteen  centuries,  the  soil  over  its  tjrave  has  grown  very  deep,  by  this  slow 
scattering  of  dust,  and  the  accumulation  of  more  modern  decay  upon  her  older 
ruin. 

'  This  was  the  fate,  also,  of  Trajan's  forum,  until  some  papal  antiquary,  a  few 
hundred  years  ago,  began  to  hollow  it  out  again,  and  disclosed  the  whole  height 
of  the  gigantic  cohunn,  wreathed  round  with  bas-reliefs  of  the  old  emperor's 
warlike  deeds  (rich  sculpture,  which,  twining  from  the  base  to  the  capital,  must 
be  an  ugly  spectacle  for  his  ghostly  eyes,  if  he  considers  that  this  huge,  storied 
shaft  nmst  be  laid  before  the  judgment-seat,  as  a  piece  of  the  evidence  of  what 
he  did  in  the  flesh).  In  the  area  before  the  column  stands  a  grove  of  stone, 
consisting  of  the  broken  and  unequal  shafts  of  a  vanished  temple,  still  keeping 
a  majestic  order,  and  apparently  incapable  of  further  demolition.  The  modern 
edifices  of  the  piazza  (wliolly  built,  no  doubt,  out  of  the  spoil  of  its  old  magnifi- 
cence) look  down  into  the  hollow  space  whence  these  pillars  rise. 

'One  of  the  immense  grey  granite  shafts  lies  in  the  piazza,  on  the  verge  of  the 
area.  It  is  a  great,  solid  fact  of  the  Past,  making  old  Rome  actually  visible  to 
the  touch  and  eye ;  and  no  study  of  history,  nor  force  of  thought,  nor  magic  of 
song,  can  so  vitally  assure  us  that  Rome  once  existed,  as  this  sturdy  specimen 
of  what  its  rulers  and  people  wrought.  There  is  still  a  polish  remaining  on  the 
hard  substance  of  the  pillar,  the  polish  of  eighteen  centuries  ago,  as  yet  but 
half  rubbed  off.' — Uawthorne. 

On  the  north  of  this  forum  are  two  churches  :  that  nearest  to  the 
Corso  is  S.  Maria  di  Loreto  (founded  by  the  corporation  of  bakers 
in  1500),  with  a  dome  surmounted  by  a  picturesque  lantern  by 
Giuliano  di  Sangallo,  c.  1506.  It  contains  a  statue  of  S.  Susanna 
(not  the  Susanna  of  the  Elders)  by  Fiammingo  (Fran9ois  de  Ques- 
noy),  which  is  justly  considered  the  c/ief-d'ceuvre  of  the  Bernini 
school.  The  companion  church  is  called  S.  Maria  di  Vienna  or 
Nome  di  Maria,  and  (like  S.  Maria  della  Vittoria)  commemorates 
the  liberation  of  Vienna  from  the  Turks  in  1683  by  Sobieski,  king 
of  Poland.     It  was  built  by  Innocent  XI. 

Leaving  the  forum  at  the  opposite  corner  by  the  Via  Alessandrina, 
and  passing  under  the  high  wall  of  the  Convent  of  the  Nunziatina, 
a  street,  opening  on  the  left,  discloses  several    beautiful  pillars, 


Temple  of  Mars  Ultor  111 

which,  after  having  borne  various  names,  are  now  declared  to  be 
the  remains  of  the  Temple  of  Mars  Ultor,  built  by  Augustus  in  his 
new  forum,  which  was  erected  in  order  to  provide  accommodation 
for  the  crowds  which  overflowed  the  Forum  Romanum  and  Forum 
Julium. 

'The  title  of  Ultor  marked  the  war  and  the  victory  l)y  which,  agreeably  to  his 
vow,  Augustus  had  avenged  his  luicle's  death. 

'  "Mars,  ades,  et  satia  scelerato  sanguine  ferrum  ; 
Stetque  favor  causa  pro  meliore  tuus. 
Templa  feres,  et,  me  victore,  vocaberis  Ultor."  ' 
'  The  porticoes,  which  extended  on  each  side  of  the  temple  with  a  gentle 
curve,  contained  statues  of  distinguished  Roman  generals.    Tlie  banquets  of  the 
Salii  were  transferred  to  the  temple,  a  circumstance  which  led  to  its  identiflca- 
tion,  from  the  discovery  of  an  inscription  here  recording  the  mansiones  of  these 
priests.    Like  the  priesthood  in  general,  they  appear  to  have  been  fond  of  good 
living,  and  there  is  a  well-known  anecdote  of  the  Emperor  Claudius  having  been 
lured  by  the  steams  of  their  banquet  from  his  judicial  functions  in  the  adjacent 
forum  to  come  and  take  part  in  their  feast.    The  temple  was  appropriated  to 
meetings  of  the  senate  in  which   matters  connected  with  wars  and  triumphs 
were  debated.  .  .  .  Here,  while  Tiberius  was  building  a  temple  to  Augustus 
upon  the  Palatine,  his  golden  statue  reposed  upon  a  couch.' — Dyer's  ^  City  of 
Rome.' 

'  Up  to  the  time  of  Augustus,  the  god  Mars,  the  reputed  father  of  the  Roman 
race,  had  never,  it  is  said,  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  a  temple  within  the  walls. 
He  was  then  introduced  into  the  city  which  he  had  saved  from  overthrow  and 
ruin,  and  the  aid  he  had  lent  in  bringing  the  murderers  of  Caesar  to  justice  was 
signalised  by  the  title  of  avenger,  by  which  he  was  now  specially  addressed. 
.  .  .  The  Temple  of  Mars  Ultor,  of  gigantic  proportions,  "Et  deus  est  ingens 
et  opus,"  was  erected  in  the  new  forum  of  Augustus  at  the  foot  of  the  Capitoline 
and  Quirinal  hills.' — Merivale,  '  Rvriians  under  the  Empire.' 

'  Ce  temple  6tait  particuliferement  cher  a  Auguste.  II  voulut  que  les  magis- 
trats  en  partissent  pour  aller  dans  leurs  provinces  ;  que  I'honneur  du  triomphe 
y  fut  d^cerne,  et  (jue  les  triomphateurs  y  flssant  hommage  h.  Mars  Vengeur  de 
leur  couronne  et  de  leur  sceptre ;  que  les  drapeaux  pris  a  I'ennemi  y  fussent 
conserves  ;  que  les  chefs  de  la  cavalerie  executassent  des  jeux  en  avant  des 
marches  de  ce  temple  ;  enfln  que  les  censeurs,  en  sortant  de  leur  charge,  y 
plantassent  le  clou  sacre,  vieil  usage  etrusque  jusque-la  attache  au  Capitole. 
Auguste  desirait  que  ce  temple  fonde  par  lui  prit  I'importance  du  Capitole. 

'II  fit  d6dier  le  temple  par  ses  petits-flls  Caius  et  Lucius  ;  et  son  autre  petit- 
flls,  Agrippa,  k  la  tete  des  plus  nobles  enfants  de  Rome,  y  celebra  le  jeu  de 
Troie,  qui  rappelait  I'origine  pretendue  troyenne  de  Cesar  ;  deux  cent  soixante 
lions  furent  egorg(5s  dans  le  cirque,  c'etait  leur  place  ;  deux  troupes  de  gladia- 
teurs  combattirent  dans  le  Septa  oii  se  faisaient  les  Elections  au  temps  de  la 
r6publique,  comme  si  Auguste  eut  voulu,  par  ces  combats  qui  se  livraient  en 
I'honneur  des  morts,  celebrer  les  funerailles  de  la  liberte  romaine.' — Ampere, 
Emp.  i.  224. 

The  Temple  of  Mars  stands  at  the  north-eastern  corner  of  the 
magnificent  Forum  of  Augustus,  which  extended  from  here  as  far 
as  the  present  Via  Alessandrina,  surpassing  in  size  the  Forum  of 
Julius  Caesar,  to  which  it  was  adjoining.  It  was  of  sufficient  size 
to  be  frequently  used  for  fights  of  animals  {venationes).  Among  its 
ornaments  were  statues  of  Augustus  triumphant  and  of  the  subdued 
provinces,  with  inscriptions  illustrative  of  the  great  deeds  he  had 
accomplished  there  ;   also  a  picture  by  Apelles  representing  War 

1  Ovid,  Fasti,  v.  575. 


112  Walks  in  Rome 

with  her  liands  bound  behind  her,  seated  upon  a  pile  of  arms. 
Part  of  the  boundary  wall  exists,  enclosing  on  two  sides  the 
remains  of  the  temple  of  Mars  Ultor,  and  is  constructed  of  huge 
masses  of  peperino.  'J'lie  arch  in  the  wall  close  to  the  temple  is 
known  as  Arco  dei  Pantani.  It  has  voussoirs  of  travertine  in  the 
wall  of  peperino.  The  sudden  turn  in  the  wall  here  is  interesting 
as  commemorating  a  concession  made  to  the  wish  of  some  pro- 
prietors, who  were  unwilling  to  part  with  their  houses  for  the  sake 
of  the  forum. 

'C'est  I'histoire  du  moulin  <le  Sans-Souci,  qui  du  reste  parait  n'etre  pas  vraie. 

'  II  est  pi(Hiant  d'assister  aujourdhui  k  ce  muna<;enieiit  d'Auguste  pour  I'opinion 
([u'il  voulait  K.isner.  En  voyantle  mur  s'inflccliir  parce  qu'il  a  fallu  lipargner 
queUiues  maisons,  on  croit  voir  la  toute-puissance  d'Auguste  gauchir  k  dessein 
devant  les  iiitiJrOts  particuliers,  seule  puissance  avec  laquelle  il  reste  a  compter 
quand  tout  interet  general  a  disparu.  L'obliquit^  de  la  politique  d'Auguste  est 
visible  dans  Tobliquitii  de  ce  mur,  qui  montre  et  rend  pour  ainsi  dire  palpable  le 
manege  adroit  de  la  tyrannic,  se  d^guisant  pour  se  fonder.  Le  mur  biaise, 
comme  l)iaisa  coustamment  Vemyer&m:'— Ampere,  Emp.  i.  223. 

(The  street  on  the  left — passing  the  Arco  dei  Pantani — the  Via 
della  Salita  del  Grillo,  commemorates  the  approach  to  the  castle  of 
the  great  mediaeval  family  Del  Grillo.  The  street  on  the  right 
leads  through  the  ancient  Suburra.) 

At  the  corner  of  the  next  street  (Via  della  Croce  Bianca) — on  the 
left  of  the  Via  Alessandrina — is  the  ruin  called  the  '  Colonnacce,' 
being  part  of  the  Portico  of  Pallas  Minerva,  which  decorated  the 
Forum  Transitorium,  begun  by  Doiuitian,  but  dedicated  in  the 
short  reign  of  Nerva,  and  hence  generally  called  the  Forum  of 
Nerva,  on  account  of  the  execration  with  which  the  memory  of 
Domitian  was  regarded.  Up  to  the  seventeenth  century  seven 
magnificent  columns  of  the  Temple  of  Minerva  were  still  standing, 
but  they  were  destroyed  by  Paul  V.,  who  used  part  of  them  in 
building  the  Fontana  Paolina.  Part  of  the  basement  of  the  temple 
was  found  in  1882,  built  up  into  a  house  at  the  corner  of  the  Via 
Alessandrina  and  the  Tor  de'  Conti.  But  the  principal  existing 
remains  consist  of  two  half-buried  Corinthian  columns  with  a  figure 
of  Minerva,  and  a  frieze  of  bas-reliefs. 

'  Les  bas-reliefs  du  forum  de  Nerva  repr^sentent  des  femnies  occupees  de  travaux 
d'aiguille,  auxquels  presidait  Minerva.  Quand  on  se  rappelle  que  Domitien  avait 
place  h  Albauo,  pr^s  du  temple  de  cette  deesse,  un  college  de  pretres  qui  imitaient 
la  parure  et  les  miijurs  de  femmes,  on  est  tent6  de  croire  qu'il  y  a  dans  le  choix 
des  sujets  figures  ici  une  allusion  aux  habitudes  effeminees  de  ces  pretres." — 
Ampere,  Emp.  ii.  IGl. 

'  The  portico  of  the  temple  of  Minerva  is  most  rich  and  beautiful  in  architec- 
ture, but  woefully  gnawed  by  time  and  shattered  by  violence,  besides  being 
buried  midway  in  the  accumulation  of  the  soil,  that  rises  over  dead  Rom»like  a 
flood-tide.' — Hawthorne. 

It  was  in  this  forum  that  Nerva  caused  Vetronius  Turinus,  who 
had  trafficked  with  his  court-interest,  to  be  suffocated  with  smoke, 
a  herald  proclaiming  at  the  time,  'Fumo  punitur  qui  vendidit 
fumum.' 

Returning  a  short  distance  down  the  Via  Alessandrina,  and  turning 


Forum  of  Julius  Caesar  113 

(left)  down  the  Via  Bonella,  we  traverse  the  site  of  the  Forum 
of  Julius  Caesar,  upon  which  100,000  sestertia  (£900,000)  were 
expended,  and  which  is  described  by  Dion  Cassius  as  having  been 
more  beautiful  than  the  Forum  Romanum.  It  was  ornamented 
with  a  Temple  of  Venus  Genitrix  —  from  whom  Julius  Caesar 
claimed  to  be  descended — which  contained  a  statue  of  the  goddess 
by  Archesilaus,  a  statue  of  Caesar  himself,  and  a  group  of  Ajax  and 
Medea  by  Timomacus.  Here,  also,  Caesar  had  the  effrontery  to 
place  the  statue  of  his  mistress,  Cleopatra,  by  the  side  of  that  of 
the  goddess.  In  front  of  the  temple  stood  a  bronze  figure  of  a 
horse  —  supposed  to  be  the  famous  Bucephalus  —  the  work  of 
Lysippus. 

'  Cedat  equus,  Latiae  qui  contra  templa  Diones, 

Caesarei  stat  sede  fori ;— queni  tradere  es  ausus 

Pellaeo,  Lysippe,  duci,  niox  Caesaris  ora 

Aurata  cervice  tulit. ' 

—Statius,  Silv.  i.  1,  84. 

The  principal  remains  of  this  forum  are  a  series  of  arched  open- 
ings near  the  Via  di  Marforio,  with  vaulted  chambers  behind  them, 
now  partly  subterranean.  The  head  of  each  opening  is  a  carefully 
joined  flat  arch  of  brown  tufa,  except  the  springers  and  key-stones, 
which  are  of  travertine.  Over  each  flat  arch  is  a  semicircular 
relieving  arch  with  tufa  voussoirs.  The  vaults  of  the  chambers  are 
concrete.  They  are  supposed  to  have  been  offices  for  lawyers' 
clerks,  and  once  probably  surrounded  the  whole  Forum  Julium. 

Part  of  the  site  of  the  forum  of  Julius  Caesar  is  now  occupied — 
on  the  right  near  the  end  of  the  Via  Bonella — by  the  Accademia  di 
San  Luca,  established  by  Sixtus  IV.,  when  he  summoned  the  great 
artists  of  all  Italy  to  Eome  for  the  decoration  of  the  Sistine. 
Federigo  Zucchero  was  its  first  director.  The  collections  are  open 
from  10  to  3  daily.  A  ceiling  representing  Bacchus  and  Ariadne  is 
by  Guido.     The  best  pictures  are  : — 

Poussin.    Bacchus  and  Ariadne. 
Paolo  Veronese.     Vanity. 
Titian.    Calista  and  the  Nymphs. 
Guido  Caynacci.    The  munier  of  Lucretia. 
Guido.    Fortune. 
Velasquez.     Innocent  XI. 
Titian.    The  Saviour  and  the  Pharisee. 
*Raffaelle.    A  lovely  fresco  of  a  child,  much  retouched. 
Attributed  to  Raffaellc.     S.  Luke  painting  the  Virgin. 

'  S.  Luke  painting  the  Virgin  has  been  a  frequent  and  favourite  subject.  The 
most  famous  of  all  is  a  picture  in  the  Academy  of  S.  Luke,  ascribed  to  Raffaelle. 
Here  S.  Luke,  kneeling  on  a  footstool  before  an  easel,  is  busied  painting  the 
Virgin  with  the  Child  in  her  arms,  who  appears  to  him  out  of  heaven,  sustained 
by  clouds  ;  behind  S.  Luke  stands  Kaffaelle  himself,  looking  on.'— Mrs.  Jameson. 

A  skull  preserved  here  was  long  supposed  to  be  that  of  Raffaelle, 
but  his  true  skull  has  since  been  found  in  his  grave  in  the  Pantheon. 

'  On  a  longtemps  venere'  ici  un  crane  que  Ton  croyait  etre  celui  de  Raffaelle  ; 
crane  etroit  sur  lequel  les  phrenologistes  auront  prononce  de  vains  oracles, 
devant  lequel  on  aura  bien  profondt^ment  reve,  et  qui  n'etait  que  celui  dun  obscur 
chanoine  bien  innocent  de  toutes  cea  imaginations.' — A.  Du  Pays. 

VOL.  I.  H 


114  Walks  in  Rome 

Just  bevond  S.  Luca  we  enter  the  Forum  Romanum,  or  Forum 
Magnum,  as  it  continued  to  be  called  after  the  Forum  of  Trajan 
liad  far  surpassed  it  in  size. 


The  interest  of  Home  comes  to  its  climax  in  the  Forum — Forum 
Romanum  Magnum — in  spite  of  all  that  is  destroyed,  and  all  that 
is  buried,  so  much  still  remains  to  be  seen,  and  every  stone  has  its 
story.  Even  without  entering  into  all  the  vexed  archaeological 
questions  which  have  filled  the  volumes  of  Canina,  Bunsen,  Niebuhr, 
and  many  others,  the  occupation  which  a  traveller  interested  in 
history  will  find  here  is  almost  inexhaustible.  The  study  of  the 
Roman  Forum  is  complicated  by  the  succession  of  public  edifices 
by  which  it  has  been  occupied,  each  period  of  Roman  history 
having  a  different  set  of  buildings,  and  each  in  a  great  measure 
supplanting  that  which  went,  before.  Another  difficulty  has  natur- 
ally arisen  from  the  exceedingly  circumscribed  space  in  which  all 
these  buildings  have  to  be  arranged,  and  which  shows  that  many 
of  the  ancient  temples  must  have  been  mere  chapels,  and  the  so- 
called  '  lakes  '  little  more  than  fountains.  The  high  platforms  on 
which  all  the  temples  stood  were  rendered  necessary  because  the 
Forum  was  constantly  flooded  by  the  Tiber.  The  recent  excava- 
tions have  been  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  discovery  of  nothing 
which  was  expected  and  of  everything  which  was  not  expected. 
Marion  Cravv'ford  truly  remarks  that  in  every  guide-book  there 
is  a  description  of  the  Forum  which  changes  with  each  new 
edition. 

''I'his  spot,  where  the  senate  had  its  assemblies,  where  the  rostra  were  placed, 
where  the  destinies  of  the  world  were  discussed,  is  the  most  celelirated  and  the 
most  classical  of  ancient  Kome.  It  was  adorned  with  the  most  magnificent 
monuments,  which  were  so  crowded  upon  one  another  that  their  heaped-up 
ruins  are  not  sufficient  for  all  the  names  which  are  handed  down  to  us  by  history. 
The  course  of  centuries  has  overthrown  the  Forum,  and  made  it  impossible  to 
define  ;  tlie  level  of  the  ancient  soil  is  twenty-four  feet  below  that  of  to-day,  and 
however  great  a  desire  one  may  feel  to  reproduce  the  past,  it  must  be  acknow- 
ledged that  this  very  difference  of  level  is  a  terrible  obstacle  to  the  powers 
of  ima};ination  ;  again,  the  uncertainties  of  archaeologists  are  discouraging  to 
curiosity  and  the  desire  of  illusion.  For  more  than  three  centuries  learning  has 
been  at  work  upon  this  field  of  ruins,  without  being  able  even  to  agree  upon  Its 
bearings :  some  describing  it  as  extending  from  north  to  south,  others  from 
east  to  west.  Following  the  common  opinion,  its  length  was  from  the  Arch  of 
Septimius  Severus  to  the  Temple  of  Antoninus  and  Faustina,  and  its  breadth  from 
the  Church  of  S.  Adriano  to  the  steps  of  the  Basilica  Julia.  Equal  uncertainty 
prevails  as  to  many  of  the  existing  ruins.  The  origin  of  the  Forum  goes  back 
to  the  alliance  of  the  Komans  and  the  .Sabines.  It  was  a  space  surrounded  by 
marshes,  which  extended  between  the  Palatine  and  the  Capitol,  occupied  by 
the  two  colonies,  and  serving  as  a  neutral  ground  where  they  could  meet.  The 
Curtian  Lake  was  situated  in  the  midst.  Constantly  adorned  under  the  republic 
and  the  empire,  it  appears  that  it  continued  to  exist  until  the  eleventh  century. 
Its  total  ruin  dates  from  Robert  Guiscard,  who,  when  called  to  the  assistance  of 
Gregory  VII.,  left  it  a  heap  of  ruins.  Abandoned  for  many  centuries,  it  became 
a  receptacle  for  ruliliish  which  gradually  raised  the  level  of  the  soil.  About 
1547,  Paul  III.  began  to  make  excavations  in  the  Forum.  Then  the  place  became 
a  cattle-market,  and  the  glorious  name  of  Forum  Romanum  changed  into  that 
of  Campo  Vaccine. 


The  Forum  Bomanum  115 

'  The  Forum  was  suiTouiuled  by  a  portico  of  two  storeys,  the  lower  of  which 
was  occupied  by  shops  (tabernae).  In  the  beginning  of  tlie  sixtli  century  of 
Rome,  two  fires  destroyed  part  of  the  edifices  with  whicli  it  liad  been  em- 
bellished. This  was  an  opportunity  for  isolating  the  Forum,  and  basilicas  and 
temples  were  raised  in  succession  along  its  sicles,  which  in  their  turn  were 
partly  destroyed  in  the  Are  of  Nero.  Domitian  rel>uilt  a  part,  and  added  the 
temple  of  Vespasian,  and  Antoninus  that  of  Faustina.' — A.  Dxi  Pays. 

The  Forum  is  open  all  day  ;  admission  1  fr. 

The  excavations  made  in  the  Forum  before  187G  were  for  the 
most  part  due  to  the  generosity  of  Elizabeth,  Duchess  of  Devon- 
shire. About  extending  these  the  Papal  Government  always 
displayed  the  most  extraordinary  apathy,  but  they  have  been 
considerably  increased  since  the  fall  of  the  Popes.  While  gaining 
in  historic  interest,  the  Forum  has  greatly  lost  in  beauty  since  the 
recent  discoveries.  Artists  will  lament  the  beautiful  trees  which 
mingled  with  the  temples,  the  groups  of  bovi  and  contadmi  reposing 
in  their  shadow,  and  above  all  the  lovely  vegetation  which  imparted 
light  and  colour  to  the  top  of  the  ruins.  As  almost  every  vestige 
of  verdure  is  carefully  cleared  away  when  it  springs  up,  the  appear- 
ance is  that  of  a  number  of  ruined  sheds  in  a  ploughed  field,  with 
some  fine  columns  interspersed.  As  Forsyth  truly  observes,  '  deep 
learning  is  generally  the  grave  of  taste.' 

If  we  stand  in  front  of  the  Arch  of  Septimius  Severus,  and  turn 
towards  the  Capitol,  we  look  upon  the  Clivus  Capitolinus.  The 
Via  Sacra,  which  ascended  in  zigzags,  is  now  concealed  by  the 
modern  causeway,  but  the  hillside  is  perfectly  crowded  with 
historical  sites  and  fragments,  viz.  : — 

1.  The  modern  Capitol,  resting  on  the  Tahularium.  This  is  one 
of  the  earliest  architectural  relics  in  Kome,  and  is  probably  due  to 
Q.  Lutatius  Catulus,  to  whom  the  rebuilding  of  the  Capitol  after 
the  fire  of  85  B.C.  was  intrusted.  It  is  built  in  the  Etruscan  style, 
of  huge  blocks  of  tufa  or  peperino  placed  long  and  cross  ways 
alternately.  It  was  formerly  composed  of  two  stages  called  Camel- 
laria.  Only  the  lower  now  remains.  It  contained  the  tables  of 
the  laws.  The  corridor  which  remains  in  the  interior  is  used  as 
a  museum  of  architectural  fragments.  The  Tabularium  was  the 
lower  storey  of  the  palace  of  public  accounts,  the  Somerset  House 
of  Rome.  Recent  explorations  have  discovered  chambers  in  which 
the  clerks  cast  up  the  accounts  in  Roman  figures.  The  Tabularium 
communicated  by  a  staircase  with  the  Aerarium  in  the  Temple  of 
Saturn,  where  the  Government  kept  its  ready  money,  in  which  pay- 
ment for  both  army  and  civil  service  was  always  made. 

'The  Tabularium  is  a  grand  edifice,  one  of  the  most  considerable  of  the 
brightest  epoch  of  the  repuldic  .  .  .  which  deserves  our  fullest  admiration.'— 
Emil  Braun. 

2.  On  the  right  of  the  excavated  space,  and  nearest  the  Tabu- 
larium, is  the  supposed  site  of  the  Tribune,  in  front  of  which  were  the 
earlier  Rostra,  removed  by  Julius  Caesar  to  another  site  in  44  B.C. 

3.  Below,  a  little  more  to  the  right,  is  a  site,  sometimes  sup- 
posed to  be  that  of  the  Senaculum,  where  the  senate  met  before 


116  Walks  in  Rome 

entering  the  Curia,  sometimes  ol'  the  first  Comitium,  where  the 
survivor  of  the  Horatii  was  condemned  to  death,  and  saved  by 
the  voice  of  the  people.  Here  would  have  been  the  trophied  pillar 
which  bore  the  arms  of  the  Curiatii. 

4.  A  little  more  to  the  left  is  the  site  of  the  Vulcanal,  so  called 
from  an  altar  dedicated  to  Vulcan,  a  platform  (still  defined)  where, 
in  the  earliest  times,  Romulus  and  Tatius' used  to  meet  on  inter- 
mediate ground  and  transact  affairs  common  to  both  ;  and  where 
Brutus  was  seated  when,  without  any  change  of  countenance,  he 
saw  his  two  sons  beaten  and  beheaded.  Adjoining  the  Vulcanal 
was  the  Graecostasis,  where  foreign  ambassadors  waited  before 
they  were  admitted  to  an  audience  of  the  senate. 

5.  Below  the  Vulcanal,  and  just  behind  the  Arch  of  Severus,  is 
the  site  of  the  Temple  of  Concord,  founded  by  Camillus,  B.C.  367, 
and  rebuilt  and  dedicated  with  blasphemous  inappropriateness,  B.C. 
121,  by  the  consul  Opimius,  immediately  after  the  murder  of  Caius 
Gracchus.  The  temple  was  again  rebuilt  under  Augustus.  Here 
Cicero  pronounced  his  orations  against  Catiline  before  the  senate. 
The  cclla  contained  eleven  niches,  in  which  masterpieces  of  Greek 
art  were  placed.  The  podium,  with  a  pavement  of  coloured  marbles, 
remains  ;  a  beautiful  fragment  of  the  cornice  is  preserved  in  the 
upper  arcade  of  the  Tabularium.  The  portico  of  the  Temple  of 
Concord  was  seen  entire  by  Poggio  Bracciolini  in  c.  1405,  but  was 
destroyed  in  his  lifetime.  At  the  base  of  the  temple  are  still  to  be 
seen  some  small  remains  of  the  Colonna  Maenia,  which  was  sur- 
mounted by  the  statue  of  C.  Maenius,  who  decorated  the  rostra 
with  the  iron  beaks  of  vessels  taken  in  war. 

'  Designed  and  executed  by  the  cleverest  masters  of  the  golden  age,  built 
entirely  of  white  marble,  profusely  enriched  with  the  masterpieces  of  the  Greek 
school,  the  Temple  of  Concord  was  one  of  the  finest  monuments  in  the  valley  of 
the  Forum,  and  one  of  the  richest  museums  of  Rome.  The  cella  contained  one 
central  and  ten  side  niches,  in  which  were  placed  the  Apollo  and  Hera  by 
Jiaton  ;  Latona  nursing  Apollo  and  Diana  by  Euphranor ;  Asklepios  and  Hygeia 
by  Nikeratos ;  Ares  and  Hermes  by  Piston  ;  and  Zeus,  Athena,  and  Demeter  by 
Sthenios.  Pliny  speaks  also  of  a  picture  by  Theodoros  representing  Cassandra  ; 
of  another  by  Zeuxis  which  portrayed  Marsyas  btjund  to  a  tree  ;  of  a  third, 
Bacchus,  by  Kikias;  of  four  elephants  cut  in  obsidian,  a  miracle  of  skill  and 
labour ;  and  of  a  collection  of  precious  stones.  Among  these  was  the  sardonyx 
set  in  the  legendary  ring  of  Polykrates  of  Samos.  I  may  mention  in  the  last 
place  the  statue  of  Hestia,  which  Tiberius  had  taken  away  almost  by  force  from 
the  inhabitants  of  Paros.' — Lanciani,  '  The  Ruins  of  Ancient  Borne.' 

G.  The  three  beautiful  columns  which  are  still  standing  were 
attributed  to  a  temple  of  Jupiter  Tonans,  but  are  now  decided  to 
belong  to  the  Temple  of  Vespasian,  erected  by  Domitian  to  his 
deified  father  and  brother.  The  engravings  of  Piranesi  represent 
them  as  buried  almost  to  their  capitals,  and  they  remained  in  this 
state  until  they  were  disinterred  during  the  first  French  occupa- 
tion. The  space  was  so  limited  in  this  part  of  Rome,  that  in  order 
to  prevent  encroaching  upon  the  street  Clivus  Capitolinus,  which 
descends  the  hill  between  this  temple  and  that   of  Saturn,  the 


Temple  of  Saturn  117 

Temple  of  Vespasian  was  raised  on  a  kind  of  terrace,  and  the 
staircase  which  led  to  it  was  thrust  in  between  the  columns. 
This  temple  was  restored  by  Septimius  Severus,  and  to  this 
the  letters  on  the  entablature  refer,  being  part  of  the  word 
Restitucre.  Instruments  of  sacrifice  are  sculptured  on  the  frieze. 
Close  to  these  columns  the  curious  little  church  of  SS.  Sergius 
and  Bacchus  existed  from  early  in  the  eighth  century  till  the 
time  of  Paul  III.,  who  destroyed  it  ;  but  the  apse  was  visible  till 
1812. 

7.  On  the  left  of  the  excavated  space,  close  beneath  the  Tabu- 
larium,  a  low  range  of  columns  recently  re-erected  represents  the 
Porticus  Deorum  Consentium,  in  front  of  a  row  of  seven  small 
rooms,  called  the  School  of  Xanthus,  chambers  for  the  use  of  the 
scribes  and  persons  in  the  service  of  the  curule  aediles,  which 
derived  their  name  from  Xanthus,  a  freedman,  by  whom  they  were 
rebuilt.  The  pedestal  of  a  statue  of  Stil'cho  has  been  found 
here. 

8.  The  eight  Ionic  columns  (of  lapis  psaronius)  still  standing,  are 
part  of  the  Temple  of  Saturn — Aedes  Saturni — the  ancient  god  of 
the  Capitol.  It  was  consecrated  in  B.C.  497  by  the  consuls  Sem- 
pronius  and  Minucius,  and  restored  in  B.C.  44  by  Munatius  Plancus. 
Before  this  temple  Pompey  sate  surrounded  by  soldiers,  listening 
to  the  orations  which  Cicero  was  delivering  from  the  rostra,  when 
he  received  the  personal  address,  '  Te  enim  jam  appello,  et  ea  voce 
ut  me  exaudire  possis.'  Here  the  tribune  Metellus  Hung  himself 
before  the  door  and  vainly  attempted  to  defend  the  treasure  of 
the  Aerariiun  in  this  temple  against  Julius  Caesar.  The  present 
remains  are  those  of  an  indifferent  and  late  renovation  by  Diocletian 
of  an  earlier  temple  of  the  time  of  Augustus,  being  composed  of 
columns  which  differ  in  diameter,  and  a  frieze  put  together  from 
fragments  which  do  not  belong  to  one  another.  The  original 
temple  was  built  by  Tarquinius  Superbus,  and  was  supposed  to 
mark  the  site  of  the  ancient  Sabine  altar  of  the  god  and  the  limit 
of  the  wood  of  refuge  mentioned  by  Virgil.  The  Temple  of  Saturn 
was  the  only  temple  in  Rome  where  heads  were  uncovered  :  it  was 
the  first  to  inaugurate  the  use  of  burning  wax  tapers  ;  and  its 
anniversary  feast,  or  Saturnalia,  was  the  origin  of  the  Carnival.^ 
The  Aerarium  Saturni,  in  which  the  brass  coinage  was  kept,  with 
the  archives  of  the  quaestors,  gave  a  name  to  the  Church  of  S. 
Salvatore  in  Aerario. 

9.  Just  below  the  Temple  of  Saturn  is  the  site  of  the  Arch  of 
Tiberius,  erected,  according  to  Tacitus,  upon  the  recovery  by  Ger- 
manicus  of  the  standards  which  Varus  had  lost. 

10.  The  remains  of  the  Milliarium  Aureum,  which  formed  the 
upper  extremity  of  a  wall  faced  with  marbles,  ending  near  the  arch 
of  Severus  in  a  small  gilt  conical  pyramid.  The  distances  to  the 
chief  towns  upon  the  roads  radiating  from  the  gates  of  Rome  are 
supposed  to  have  been  inscribed  upon  the  Milliarium  Aureum,  as 


1  See  Lanciani,  '  Aiicient  Rome.' 


118  Walks  in  Rome 

distances  within  the  walls  were  upon  the  pyramid  (from  which 
in  this  case  they  wore  also  measured)  which  bore  the  name  of 
Umbilicus  Romae.  Others  think  that  the  Umbilicus  was  only  a 
sort  of  copy  of  the  famous  Omphalos  of  Delphi,  which  was  believed 
to  mark  the  centre  of  the  world.  The  Via  Sacra,  which  is  still 
visible  with  its  ancient  basalt  pavement  of  republican  date,  de- 
scended from  the  Capitol  between  the  temples  of  Saturn  and 
Vespasian — being  known  here  as  the  Clivus  Capitolinus,  and  passed 
to  the  left  of — 

11.  The  Arch  of  Septimius  Severus,  which  was  erected  by  the 
senate  A.d.  20.'),  in  honour  of  that  emperor  and  his  two  sons,  Cara- 
calla  and  Geta.  It  is  adorned  with  bas-reliefs  relating  his  victories 
in  the  East — his  entry  into  Babylon,  and  the  tower  of  the  temple  of 
Belus,  are  represented.  A  curious  memorial  of  imperial  history 
may  be  observed  in  the  inscription,  where  we  may  still  discern 
the  erasure  made  by  Caracslla  after  he  had  put  his  brother  Geta  to 
death  in  A.D.  213,  "for  the  sake  of  obliterating  his  memory.  The 
added  words  are  OPTIMIS  PORTISSIMISQVE  PRINCIPIBUS — but  the 
ancient  inscription  P.  SEPT.  LVC.  PIL.  GETAE.  NOBLiss.  CAESAEI, 
has  been  made  out  by  painstaking  decipherers.  In  one  of  the  piers 
is  a  staircase  leading  to  the  top  of  the  arch,  which  was  formerly 
(as  seen  from  coins  of  Severus  and  Caracalla)  adorned  by  a  car 
drawn  by  six  horses  abreast,  and  containing  figures  of  Severus  and 
his  sons.  In  the  Middle  Ages  the  arch  was  surmounted  by  two 
towers,  of  which  one  was  used  as  a  belfry  for  the  church  of  SS. 
Sergius  and  Bacchus,  whence  the  name  of  Turris  de  Braccio,  as 
applied  to  the  building.  It  stood  on  the  edge  of  the  platform — 
Area  Concordiae — which  was  six  or  seven  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  Forum,  whence  it  was  reached  by  steps.  In  front  of  the  side 
arch  on  the  right  is  the  marble  base  of  a  statue  of  the  Emperor 
Constantine.  The  street  under  the  arch  is  only  mediaeval,  and 
dates  from  the  fall  of  the  empire.  In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  side  arches  were  walled  in  and  let  as  shops. 

'  Les  proportions  de  Tare  de  Septinie-Sbv6re  sont  encore  belles.  L' aspect  en 
est  imposant ;  11  est  solide  sans  etre  lourd.  La  grande  inscription  oii  se  lisent 
les  upithc-tes  victorieuses  qui  rappellent  les  succes  militaires  de  I'empereur, 
Parthique,  Dacique,  Adiabenique,  se  diiploie  sur  une  vaste  surface  et  donne  a 
I'entablement  un  air  de  majestu  qn'adniirent  les  artistes.  Cette  inscription  est 
doublement  historique ;  elle  rappelle  les  campagnes  de  Severe  et  la  trag(5die 
domestique  qui  apres  lui  ensanglanta  sa  famille,  le  meurtre  d'un  de  ses  tils 
imniold  par  I'autre,  et  I'acharnement  de  celui-ci  ii  poursuivre  la  m6moire  du 
frere  qn'il  avait  fait  assassiner  Le  nom  de  Geta  a  ite  visiblement  efface  par 
Caracalla.  La  miime  chose  se  remarque  dans  luie  inscription  sur  bronze 
qu'on  voit  an  Capitole  et  sur  le  petit  arc  du  Marche  aux  boeufs,  oil  I'iniage 
de  Geta  a  6ti  effacee  conime  son  noni.  Caracalla  ne  permit  pas  monie  k 
ce  nom  proscrit  de  se  cacher  parmi  les  hieroglyphes.  En  Egypte,  ceux  qui 
coniposaient  le  nom  de  G6ta  ont  etc  grattes  sur  les  monuments.'— .4 wi^tTC,  Emp. 
ii.  278. 

Rather  in  front  of  the  Arch  of  Severus,  on  the  south  side,  in 
front  of  the  curved  platform  which  connects  the  Umbilicus  Romae 
with  the  Milliarium  Aureum,  a  rectangular  platform  seventy-eight 
feet  long  and  eleven  feet  high  has  been  unearthed,  which  has  been 


The  Rostra  119 

identified  with  the  Rostra  of  Julius  Caesar,  which  was  in  itself  a 
restoration  of  rostra  dating  from  c.  450  B.C.  Nothing  remains  of 
the  marble  facing,  but  the  brick  facing  is  of  interest,  as  the  earliest 
example  in  Rome  of  known  date — 44:  B.C.  Along  the  top  of  the 
cornice  runs  a  groove,  with  holes  where  the  marble  balustrades 
were  fixed  to  prevent  people  being  pushed  from  the  platform.  In 
one  part  the  groove  is  discontinued,  as  there  was  no  screen  there, 
in  order  that  the  whole  figure  of  the  orator  might  be  seen  by  the 
people  below,  as  is  seen  in  a  relief  on  the  Arch  of  Constantine, 
in  which  he  is  shown  here  addressing  the  people ;  the  different 
buildings  of  the  forum  being  represented  in  the  background,  so  as 
to  show  the  exact  position  of  the  rostra.  Holes  and  metal  pins 
still  exist,  showing  where  the  bronze  beaks  of  ships  {rostra)  were 
affixed  to  the  front  of  the  platform,  nineteen  in  the  lower,  twenty 
in  the  upper  tier.  Where  the  lower  tiers  are  fixed  are  upright 
grooves,  supposed  to  have  been  intended  to  hold  bronze  pilasters  ; 
these  grooves  appear  also  on  the  end  walls.  The  rostra  affixed  to 
the  platform  are  said  to  have  been  the  original  beaks  of  the  ships 
from  Antium,  transferred  by  Caesar  from  the  earlier  rostra.  It 
was  on  this  second  rostra  that  the  body  of  Julius  Caesar  was 
exhibited  to  the  crowd  by  Antony,  and  here,  on  the  scene  of  his 
former  triumphs,  that  the  head  and  hand  of  Cicero  were  hung  up 
after  his  murder  by  Antony  in  44  B.C.,  and  Fulvia,  the  widow  of 
Clodius,  spat  in  his  dead  face.  In  front  of  the  rostra  were  the 
statues  of  the  three  Sibyls  called  Tria  Fata,^  and  near  the  rostra 
were  thrones  for  foreign  ambassadors,  who  often  had  to  sit  there  to 
hear  the  fate  of  their  own  countries  decided. 

To  the  right  of  the  Forum,  from  the  foot  of  the  Capitol,  runs  the 
Via  della  Consolazione,  occupying  part  of  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Vicus  Juguarius,  where  Augustus  erected  an  altar  to  Ceres,  and 
another  to  Ops  Augusta,  the  goddess  of  wealth,  in  which  the  seven 
hundred  sesterces  left  by  Julius  Caesar  at  his  death  were  stored. 
(In  this  street,  on  the  left,  is  a  good  cinque-cento  doorway.)  Where 
the  street  leaves  the  Forum  was  the  so-called  Lacus  Servilius,  a 
basin  which  probably  derived  its  name  from  Servilius  Ahala  (who 
slew  the  [jhilanthropist  Sp.  Maelius  with  a  dagger  near  this  very 
spot),  and  which  was  encircled  with  a  ghastly  row  of  heads  in  the 
massacres  under  Sulla.  This  fountain  was  adorned  by  M.  Agrippa 
with  the  figure  of  a  hydra.  The  right  side  of  the  Forum  is  now 
occupied  for  a  considerable  distance  by  the  disinterred  remains  of 
the  Basilica  Julia,  begun  by  Julius  Caesar,  and  finished  by  Augustus, 
who  dedicated  it  in  honour  of  the  sons  of  his  daughter  Julia.  It 
was  restored  by  Severus  in  199  B.C.,  and  again  by  Diocletian  after  a 
fire  in  282  A.D.,  and  was  finally  restored  by  the  Praefect  Gabinus 
Vetticus  Probianus,  as  is  recorded  on  a  pedestal  recently  unearthed 
in  the  Vicus  Juguarius.  The  basilica  was  a  double  portions,  with  two 
storeys  of  columns.  It  was  open  on  three  sides,  but  on  the  side  away 
from  the  Forum  opened  into  ranges  of  rooms,  of  which  there  are 

1  See  Mlddleton,  'Ancient  Rome  in  1855.' 


120  Walks  in  Rome 

considerable  remains.  A  basilica  of  this  description  was  intended 
partly  as  a  Law  Court  and  partly  as  an  Exchange.  In  this  basilica 
the  judges  called  Centumviri  held  their  courts,  which  were  four  in 
number : 

'  Jam  clamor,  centnmqne  viri,  tleiisunique  coronae 
Vulf;us,  et  infaiiti  Julia  teeta  placent.' 

—Martial,  Ep.  vi.  38. 

Here  Suetonius  narrates  that  the  mad  Caligula  used  to  stand  upon 
the  roof  and  throw  money  into  the  Forum  for  the  people  to  scramble 
for.  The  Arch  of  Tiberius  is  supposed  to  have  stood  near  the  corner 
of  this  basilica.  The  south  boundary  of  the  republican  forum  is 
marked  by  the  Basilica  Julia.  The  northern  vestibule  of  the  basi- 
lica was  converted  into  the  Church  of  S.  Maria  de  Foro,  which  was 
almost  intact  in  1S80,  with  its  double  row  of  columns,  apse,  presby- 
tery, transennae,  and  frescces  ;  only  one  column  of  the  presbytery 
has  been  allowed  to  remain.  The  rest  of  the  basilica  was  almost 
entirely  demolished  by  the  marble  plunderers  of  the  XI.  c.  Most 
of  the  steps,  pavement,  and  brick  arches  which  we  now  see  are 
modern.  All  the  travertine  used  in  building  the  beautiful  Palazzo 
Gira\id-Torlonia  was  taken  from  the  Basilica  Julia. 

Opposite  the  Basilica  Julia  the  Via  Sacra  was  fringed  with  a  line 
of  Columnae  Honorariae,  probably  of  the  III.  and  IV.  c.  Seven 
large  pedestals  of  travertine  faced  with  brick  bore  columns  of 
marble  or  granite,  of  which  the  fragments  found  were  re-erected  in 
1899-1900,  including  a  lofty  Corinthian  column  of  white  marble. 
On  one  of  the  shafts  are  a  number  of  square  holes  to  which  bronze 
ornaments  were  probably  attached. 

Beyond  the  Basilica  Julia  are  three  beautiful  columns  which 
belong  to  a  restoration  of  the  Aedes  Castorum  or  Temple  of  Castor 
and  Pollux,  dedicated  by  Postumius,  B.C.  482.  Here  costly  sacri- 
fices were  always  offered  in  the  ides  of  July  at  the  anniversary  of 
the  battle  of  the  Lake  Eegillus,  after  which  the  Roman  knights, 
richly  clothed,  crowned  with  olive  and  bearing  their  trophies,  rode 
past  it  in  military  procession,  starting  from  the  Temple  of  Mars 
outside  the  Porta  Capena. 

'  Althoush  named  officially  from  both  the  Dioscuri,  the  temple  went  usually 
by  that  of  Castor  alone,  as  shown,  among  other  documents,  by  a  fragment  of  the 
marble  i)lan  discovered  in  1822.  Bibulus.  whose  name  was  never  pronounced 
with  that  of  Caesar,  his  more  favoured  colleasue  in  the  aedileship,  used  to  say 
that  he  shared  the  same  fate  as  Tollux.'—Lanciani,  '  Muins  of  Ancient  Rome.' 

The  existing  columns  are  part  of  the  temple  as  rebuilt  by  Tiberius 
and  Drusus  in  7  B.C.,  with  the  spoils  taken  in  Germany. ^  The 
pedestal  of  the  statue  of  Marcus  Aurelius  and  the  statue  of  Jonah 
in  S.  Maria  del  Popolo  were  formed  from  other  columns.  The 
entablature  which  the  three  columns  support  is  of  great  richness, 
and  the  whole  fragment  is  considered  to  be  one  of  the  finest  existing 

1  Suet.  Tib.  20 ;  Dion.  Cass.  iv.  8,  27. 


Temple  of  Vesta  121 

specimens  of  the  Corinthian  order.  None  of  the  Roman  ruins  have 
given  rise  to  more  discussion  than  this.  It  has  perpetually  changed 
its  name.  Eunsen  and  many  other  authorities  considered  it  to  be- 
long to  the  Temple  of  Minerva  Chalcidica  ;  but  as  it  is  known  that 
the  position  of  the  now  discovered  Basilica  Julia  was  exactly  be- 
tween the  Temple  of  Saturn  and  that  of  Castor,  and  a  passage  of 
Ovid  describes  the  latter  as  being  close  to  the  site  of  the  Temple 
of  Vesta,  which  is  also  ascertained,  it  seems  certain  now  tliat  it 
belonged  to  the  Temple  of  the  Dioscuri.  Dion  Cassius  mentions 
that  Caligula  made  this  temple  a  vestibule  to  his  house  on  the 
Palatine.  He  used  to  appear  himself  for  worship  between  the  great 
twin  brothers.^  The  temple  was  also  frequently  used  for  meetings 
of  the  senate.  Baldassare  Peruzzi  called  these  columns  '  La  piu  belia 
e  meglio  lavorata  opera  di  Roma.'  The  last  spoliation  of  the  temple 
was  in  1773.  In  the  Verrine  orations  Cicero  accused  Verres  of 
having,  in  his  greed  of  plunder,  brought  an  action  against  those 
who  were  bound  to  keep  the  Temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux  in  order, 
asserting  that  its  columns  were  not  perpendicular,  and  that  having 
forced  them  to  be  pulled  down,  he  rebuilt  them  coarsely,  and  de- 
manded 300,000  sesterces  for  the  work.  In  his  oration  Cicero  pointed 
at  the  restored  temple,  but  the  existing  pillars  belong  to  a  later 
reconstruction  by  Tiberius.  Treaties  were  hung  up  in  this  temple. 
Between  the  Temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux  and  the  Basilica  Julia, 
the  Vicus  Tuscus  or  Etruscan  quarter  (see  Chapter  V.)  ran  from  the 
Via  Sacra  towards  the  Circus  Maximus.  At  its  entrance  was  the 
bronze  statue  of  Vertumnus,  the  god  of  Etruria,  and  patron  of 
the  quarter.  Tlie  long  trougli-shaped  fountain  near  the  modern  Via 
dei  Fienili,  at  which  such  picturesque  groups  of  oxen  and  buffaloes 
are  constantly  standing,  is  a  memorial  of  the  Lake  of  Juturna,  the 
sister  of  Turnus,  or,  as  she  was  sometimes  described,  the  wife  of 
Janus  the  Sabine  war-god.  This  fountain  (for  such  it  must  have 
been)  was  dried  up  by  Paul  V.  : 

'  At  quae  ventnras  praecedit  sexta  kalendas, 

Hac  sunt  Ledaeis  templa  dicata  dels. 
Fratribus  ilia  dels  fratres  de  geiite  deorum 
Circa  Juturnae  composuere  lacus.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  i.  705. 

Close  under  the  Palatine,  near  the  line  of  the  earliest  Via  Sacra, 
remains  have  been  discovered  of  the  famous  Temple  or  Aedes  Sacra 
of  Vesta,  in  which  the  sacred  fire  was  preserved  (symbolising  the 
centre  of  domestic  life),  with  the  palladium  saved  from  Troy.  On 
the  altar  of  this  temple  blood  was  sprinkled  annually  from  the  tail 
of  the  horse  which  was  sacrificed  to  Mars  in  the  Campus  Martins. 
The  worship  of  Hestia,  imported  into  Rome  from  Alba  Longa — '  Alba 
oriundum  sacerdotium  ' — had  its  origin  in  the  common  fire — 'fvcus 
puhlicus' — which  was  preserved  in  a  hut  in  the  centre  of  every 
village,  at  a  time  when  fire  was  not  easily  procured.     Numa  Pom- 

'  Suet.  Cal.  22. 


122  Walks  in  Rome 

pilius  established  one  of  these  on  the  border  of  the  Velabnim, 
between  the  Palatine  and  the  Capitol.  It  was  burnt  by  the  Gauls  in 
390,  when  the  vestals  escaped  to  Caere  ;  and  it  was  again  burnt 
in  2-11  B.C.,  when  the  Pontifex  Maximus  Metellus  lost  his  eyesight  in 
saving  the  precious  relics  it  contained.  In  the  great  fire  under  Nero 
it  was  again  burnt,  was  rebuilt  and  again  burnt  down  under  Corn- 
modus,  and  restored  for  the  last  time  by  Julia  Domna.  Tlie  temple, 
thus  rebuilt,  was  perfect  in  1489,  but  entirely  demolished  in  1549. 
The  broken  columns  and  fragments  of  architecture  found  around 
the  temple  have  been  as  far  as  possible  replaced,  1899-1900.  In 
the  centre  of  the  base  of  the  temple  a  little  cella  has  been  found, 
apparently  under  the  altar  on  which  the  sacred  fire  burned.  It  is 
supposed  by  some  authorities  to  be  the  Penus  Vestae,  the  mysterious 
spot  in  which  the  most  sacred  treasures  of  Vesta,  such  as  the 
Palladium,  were  preserved,  into  which  man  could  never  enter,  and 
matrons,  barefooted,  only  between  the  5th  and  15th  of  June. 
It  was  here,  during  the  consulate  of  the  young  Marius,  that  the 
high  priest  Scaevola  was  murdered,  splashing  the  image  of  Vesta 
with  his  blood ;  and  here  (A.D.  68)  Piso,  the  adopted  son  of  Galba, 
was  murdered  in  the  sanctuary  whither  he  had  fled  for  refuge,  and 
his  head,  being  cut  off,  was  affixed  to  the  rostra.  Behind  the 
temple,  along  the  lower  ridge  of  the  Palatine,  stretched  the  sacred 
grove  of  Vesta.  Here  Numa  Pompilius  fixed  his  residence,  hoping 
to  conciliate  both  the  Latins  of  the  Palatine  and  the  Sabines  of 
the  Capitoline  by  occupying  a  neutral  ground  between  them. 

'Quaeris  iter?  dicam  :  vicinum  Castora  canae 

Tiansibis  Vestae,  virgineamciiie  domum  ; 
Inde  sacro  veneranda  petes  palatia  clivo.' 

—Martial,  Ep.  i.  71. 

'  Hie  focus  est  Vestae,  cjui  Pallada  servat  et  iguem. 
Hie  fuit  aiitiqui  regia  parva  Nuniae.' 

—Ovid,  Trist.  iii.  El.  1. 

'Hie  locus  exiguus,  qui  sustiuet  atria  Vestae, 

Tunc  erat  intoiisi  regia  magna  Numae. 
Forma  tamen  templi,  quae  nunc  manet,  ante  fuisse 

Dicitur  ;  et  formae  causa  probanda  subest. 
Vesta  eadem  est  et  Terra  ;  subest  vigil  ignis  utrique. 

Significant  sedeni  terra  focusque  suam. 
Terra,  pilae  similis,  nullo  fulciniine  nixa, 

Aere  subjecto  tam  grave  pendet  onus. 
Arce  Syracosia  suspensus  in  aiire  clauso 

Stat  globus,  inimensi  parva  flgura  poli : 
Et  quantum  a  sunimis,  tantum  secessit  ab  imis 

Terra.    Quod  ut  fiat,  forma  rotunda  facit. 
Par  faeies  templi :  nullus  procurrit  ab  illo 

Angulus.    A  pluvio  vindicat  imbre  tholus.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  vi.  263. 

'  Servat  et  Alba,  Lares,  et  quorum  lucet  in  aris 
Ignis  adhuc  Phrygius,  nuUique  adspecta  virorum 
Pallas,  in  abstruso  piguus  meraorabile  templo.' 

— Lucan,  ix.  992. 

Behind  the  Temple,  on  the  right  of  the  entrance  to  the  cloisters, 
is  a  shrine — or  sacellum — probably  of  Mercury.     It  had  two  Ionic 


The  Atrium  Vestae  123 

columns  on  the  front,  supporting  an  architrave  inscribed,  '  Senatus 
Populusque  Romanus  pecunia  pubblica  faciendam  curavit,'  and  it 
was  probably  restored  under  Trajan.  There  were  274  of  these 
little  chapels  under  Constantine. 

Just  beyond  the  site  of  the  Temple  of  Vesta,  below  the  Via 
Nova,  which  ran  between  it  and  the  Palatine,  are  the  remains  of 
the  Atrium  Vestae,  the  conventual  abode  of  the  Vestal  Virgins,  the 
'virginea  domus '  of  Martial,  and  the  prototype  of  all  the  nunneries 
in  the  world. ^  The  original  building  on  this  site  was  the  Regia, 
said  to  have  been  built  by  Numa,  which  became  the  residence  of 
the  Pontifex  Maximus,  who  dwelt  '  in  radicibus  Palatii  finibusque 
Romani  Fori."-  This  building  was  destroyed  by  the  Gauls  in  890 
B.C.,  and  again  much  injured  by  fire  in  191  B.C.  It  was  the  resi- 
dence of  Julius  Caesar  from  the  time  of  his  election  to  the  office 
of  Pontifex  Maximus,  and  was  the  place  where  his  second  wife 
Pompeia  admitted  her  lover  Clodius  in  the  disguise  of  a  woman  to 
the  mysteries  of  the  Bona  Dea.  Hence  also  Caesar  went  forth  to 
his  death,  and  hence  his  last  wife,  Calpurnia,  rushed  forth  with  loud 
outcries  to  receive  his  dead  body.  The  smallness  of  the  space 
occupied  by  the  Regia  is  described  by  Ovid. 

Augustus,  who  preferred  a  residence  upon  the  Palatine,  pre- 
sented the  Regia  to  the  Vestals,  who  soon  pulled  down  the  original 
building,  and  erected  another  of  a  more  important  character  for 
their  own  residence.  When  Horace  says,  '  Ventum  erat  ad  Vestae,' 
he  means  the  atrium,  not  the  Temple  of  Vesta.  Under  the  Alban 
system,  the  care  of  the  sacred  fire  had  been  entrusted  to  four 
virgins  ;  Servius  Tullius  raised  the  number  to  six,  which  number 
remained  unchanged  till  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
when  it  was  increased  to  seven.  The  Vestals  had  their  origin  in  the 
village  girls,  who  obtained  fire  by  rubbing  the  wood  of  laurel  and 
oak  together.  The  sisterhood  was  managed  by  the  oldest  virgin — 
Virgo  Vcstalis  Maxima — but  as  vestals  were  admitted  at  between 
six  and  ten  years  old,  they  often  became  maxima  whilst  still  very 
young.  The  vestals  must  always  have  had  both  parents  living  at 
the  time  of  their  election,  and  both  of  irreproachable  character. 
They  had  also  to  be  absolutely  free  from  any  physical  imperfection. 
The  term  of  legal  service  was  thirty  years  ;  after  that  the  vestal 
might  return  home  or  marry.  The  abbess  enjoyed  one  of  the 
positions  of  highest  consideration  under  the  empire.  Secrets  of 
state  and  wills  of  emperors  were  entrusted  to  her,  and  in  outbursts 
of  revolution  or  civil  war  she  was  resorted  to  as  a  last  hope  of 
peace.'^ 

The  Vestals  had  seats  of  honour  in  the  amphitheatre,  theatres, 
or  circus,  and  the  empress  had  to  sit  amongst  them  when  she  ap- 
peared in  public.     They  had  also  the  right  of  interment  within  the 

1  Laiiciani. 

2  Servius,  Ad  Aeii.  viii.  363. 

s  See  Rudolfo  Lanciani,  in  the  Athenmum,  Feb.  2,  1884.  Tacitus,  Ann.  xi. 
32 ;  Hist.  iii.  81.    Suet.  ntel.  16. 


124  Walks  in  Rome 

city,  though  their  burial-place  is  unknown.  The  requests  of  the 
Vestals  were  scarcely  ever  refused,  and  if  one  of  them  accidentally 
met  a  criminal  on  liis  way  to  the  scaffold,  he  was  reprieved  at  once. 
When  they  entered  the  convent  their  hair  was  cut  off,  arranged 
in  plaits  bearing  the  names  of  their  owners,  and  fastened  to  a  lotus 
tree  (Lotus  capillata),  which  is  supposed  to  have  spread  where  a 
turfy  space  is  now  left :  Pliny  says  that  the  tree  lived  five  hundred 
years.  The  lower  floor  of  the  house  was  lined  with  cipollino,  the 
upper  with  breccia-corallina.  The  rooms  were  warmed  under  the 
blue  tiles  of  their  floors,  and  the  remains  of  the  hypocaust  which 
served  the  house  may  still  be  seen  in  a  caverned  room  under 
the  Palatine  ;  in  the  ne.xt  room  is  a  mill  which  was  worked  by 
slaves  for  making  the  unleavened  bread  of  the  Vestals.  The  Vestals 
had  their  own  stables  and  horses. 

The  remains  of  the  house  of  the  Vestals  were  discovered  in  the 
autumn  of  1883.  They  are  those  of  the  house  as  it  was  rebuilt 
after  the  fire  of  a.d.  191  by  Septimius  Severus,  though  some  of  the 
pavements  are  of  the  republican  period,  and  belonged  to  the 
ancient  Regia.  The  principal  entrance  was  near  the  Temple  of 
Vesta ;  and  beside  it,  on  the  right,  are  remains  of  a  small  aedicula 
or  shrine,  whicli  probably  contained  a  statue  of  the  goddess.  It 
was  built  of  brick,  with  a  marble  roof  and  entablature  supported 
on  marble  columns.  The  frieze  of  the  shrine  is  inscribed  in  letters 
of  the  time  of  Hadrian — Senatus  populusque  Romanus  pecunia 
publica  faciendam  curavit.  The  peristyle,  which  was  so  large  ^  as 
to  give  a  name  to  the  edifice,  was  surrounded  by  porticoes,  paved 
either  with  mosaic  or  oriental  marbles,  and  separated  from  the 
open  space  by  forty-eight  columns  of  cipollino,  resting  on  low 
parapet  walls,  upon  the  ground  floor,  and,  on  the  upper  floor,  by 
forty-eight  columns  of  breccia-corallina,  of  which  two  have  been 
found  perfect.  In  the  centre  of  the  open  space,  which  was  paved 
with  black  mosaic,  was  a  brick  structure,  a  circle  within  an 
octagon,  apparently  surrounded  by  flower-beds,  perhaps  a  minia- 
ture of  the  Lucus  Vestae  on  the  Palatine,  adjoining  the  Via  Nova,^ 
which  was  destroyed  when  Caligula  extended  his  palace  over  the 
northern  angle  of  the  hill.  Between  the  pillars  of  the  peristyle 
stood  the  statues  of  Vir;/ines  Vestales  Muxiinae, resting  upon  pedestals. 
There  are  supposed  to  have  been  more  than  a  hundred  honorary 
pedestals,  as  many  statues  represented  and  manj'  pedestals  named 
the  same  lady.  More  than  four-fifths  of  this  series  were  destroyed 
in  the  Middle  Ages  :  only  thirty-six  inscriptions  bearing  names  of 
Vestales  Maximae  have  been  found  in  Rome,  twenty-eight  in  the 
atrium  itself,  two  on  the  Palatine,  six  in  other  parts  of  the  town. 
The  Vestals  to  whom  commemorative  inscriptions  have  been  found 
are — Occia,  38  B.C.-19  a.d.  ;  Junia  Torquata,  daughter  of  Silanus, 
A.D.  19-48  ;  Vibidia,  the  intercessor  for  Messalina;  Cornelia  Maxima, 
murdered   by   Domitian  ;    Praetextata  ;    Numisia  Maximilla,  A.D. 

1  Sixty-seven  metres  long  and  twenty-four  wide. 
2  'Qui  a  Palatii  radice  in  Novam  Viam  devexus  est.' — Cicero,  De  Divin.  i.  45. 


House  of  the  Vestals  125 

200  ;  Terentia  Flavola,  A.D.  215  ;  Campia  Severina,  A.D.  240  ;  Flavia 
Mamilia,  A.D.  242  ;  Flavia  Publicia,  A.D.  247  (of  whom  there  is  a 
beautiful  statue)  ;  Cloelia  Claudiana,  a.d.  2S6  ;  Terentia  Rufilla, 
A.D.  300  ;  and  Cloelia  Concordia,  the  last  but  one  of  the  Vestales 
Maximae.  Besides  these,  an  inscription  from  which  the  name  has 
been  erased,  perhaps  because  she  embraced  Christianity,^  com- 
memorates a  lady  of  A.D.  364  in  the  words — '  Ob  meritum  castitatis, 
pudicitiae,  atque  in  sacris  religionibusque  docti'inae  mirabilis  .  .  . 
[name  erased]  virgini  vestali  maximae,  pontilices  viri  clarissimi,  pro 
magistro  Macrinio  Sossiano  viro  clarissimo,  pro  meritis  ;  dedicata 
quinto  idus  Junias,  divo  Joviano  et  Varroniano  consulibus.'  The 
statues  in  the  atrium,  which  are  of  life  size,  range  from  complete 
figures  to  mere  fragments.  They  are  mostly  of  the  third  century, 
but  one  or  two  date  from  the  second.  The  finest  as  a  work  of  art, 
apparently  of  the  time  of  Hadrian,  is  the  upper  half  of  a  figure, 
important  as  giving  the  only  known  representation  of  the  sacred 
suffihulum,  worn  by  vestals  whilst  sacrificing— a  hood  of  white 
woollen  cloth  with  a  purple  border,  fastened  on  the  breast  by  a 
fibula.  The  other  statues  only  show  the  stola,  a  long  gown  bound 
by  a  girdle  or  zona,  usually  without  sleeves.  Over  this  is  worn  the 
pallium,  and  round  the  head  the  sacred  vittae — rope-like  folds  of 
linen.  Though  in  some  cases  the  hair  is  hidden  by  the  pallium  and 
vittae,  yet  in  several  statues  enough  hair  is  visible  to  show  that  it 
was  allowed  to  grow  long,  though  on  entering  the  novitiate  the  hair 
of  the  child  vestal  was  cut  off.  All  the  pedestals  are  inscribed  to 
the  Virgo  Vestalis  Maxima,  a  rank  attained  by  seniority,  but  the 
inscriptions  on  two  of  tne  six  pedestals  in  honour  of  Flavia  Publicia 
(c.  A.D.  247)  show  that  several  grades  were  passed  through  before 
they  reached  the  highest  dignity.  On  one  of  the  later  statues  a 
row  of  bronze  pins  on  the  breast  shows  where  a  metal  monilc  or 
necklace  was  fastened  ;  to  a  statue  (now  lost)  which  was  found  on 
the  Esquiline  in  1591,  the  necklace  was  still  attached."  Only  one 
male  statue  was  found  in  the  Atrium  Vestae,  that  of  Vettius 
Agorius  Praetextatus,  one  of  the  last  public  defenders  of  the  Ves- 
tals in  the  fourth  century. 

The  atrium  was  surrounded  on  the  ground  floor  by  state  apart- 
ments (in  some  of  which  the  state  archives  were  probably  kept), 
and  on  the  upper  floor  by  the  private  rooms  of  the  vestals,  all  once 
lined  with  marble,  and  thoroughly  warmed  by  hypocausts — hollow 
floors,  through  which  the  hot  air  from  furnaces  could  circulate, 
and  escape  to  the  roof  by  flue-tiles  covering  the  walls.  The  small 
pillars  (pilae)  which  support  the  floors  (suspcnsura)  rests  on  the 
vaults  of  the  lower  rooms,  which  are  made  level  by  concrete.  A 
bath-room,  lined  with  precious  marbles,  was  approached  from  the 
upper  floor  by  a  wooden  bridge. 


1  The  conversion  of  a  vestal  to  the  new  faith  is  mentioned  by  Prudentius, 
Peristeph.  Hymn  2. 

2  See  the  Saturday  Review,  No.  1554,  August  8,  1885  ;  also  the  Times,  Nov.  19, 
1879,  May  8  and  May  20,  1882. 


126  Walks  in  Rome 

At  the  south-east  end  of  the  peristyle  (towards  the  Arch  of  Titus) 
was  the  Tablinum,  approached  by  four  steps  between  columns,  on 
either  side  of  which  were  marble  cancclli.  The  walls  were  panelled 
with  coloured  marbles.  On  either  .side  are  three  small  vaulted 
rooms,  those  on  the  right  (which  suffered  from  damp  by  their 
position  under  the  Palatine  ')  warmed  by  hot  air.  In  the  central 
room,  the  lloor  rested  upon  large  amphorae  cut  in  half,  between 
which  the  hot  air  circulated.  The  room  behind  these  contained  a 
marble  bath,  and  six  niches  for  statuettes  above  it.  It  has  also 
an  arched  furnace,  the  top  of  which  is  paved  with  herring-bone 
work. 

The  Atrium  Vestae  appears  to  have  been  left  undisturbed  till  late 
in  the  fourth  century,  when  the  last  of  the  vestals  were  dying  out 
or  abandoning  the  ancient  faith.  Zosimus-  speaks  of  the  last 
surviving  vestal  as  an  old  woman  living  in  the  almost  deserted  house 
as  late  as  A.  D.  394,  and  cursing  the  Princess  Serena,  who  took  a 
necklace  from  the  statue  of  the  goddess  and  put  it  round  her  own 
neck  ;  before  that  time  more  than  one  vestal  had  become  a  Christian. 
After  the  worship  of  Vesta  was  extinguished,  the  atrium  appears 
to  have  been  inhabited  for  some  centuries,  and  later  additions  can 
be  traced.  At  the  northern  angle  of  the  peristyle,  several  rooms  of 
the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries  were  found  in  1883,  and  soon  after- 
wards destroyed.  In  one  of  these  was  discovered  a  large  ripostiglia 
or  hoard  of  English  pennies — probably  Peter's  pence — of  Alfred, 
Edward  I.,  Athelstan,  Edmund,  and  a  few  of  Sitric  and  Anlaf, 
kings  of  Northumbria.  In  the  same  pot  with  these  was  a  bronze 
fibula,  inlaid  with  silver,  bearing  the  name  of  Marinus  II.,  who  was 
Pope  from  942  to  94(5. 

The  Via  Nova,  in  the  fourth  century  B.C.,  ran  along  the  west  slope 
of  the  Palatine,  turning  the  north  corner  of  the  hill,  and  continuing 
along  the  east  slope  of  the  Palatine  till  it  reached  '  Summa  Velia.' 
In  the  reign  of  Augu.stusits  course  was  changed,  that  it  might  pass 
the  corner  of  the  Temple  of  Castor,  to  join  the  Via  Sacra  near  the 
Temple  of  Romulus.     Thus  Ovid  saw  it — 

'Qua  nova  Romano  nunc  Via  juncta  Foro  est.' 

—Fast.  vi.  396. 

This  famous  lane,  of  which  the  name  is  connected  with  so  many 
stirring  events  of  the  kingly  period,  has  been  traced  for  120  feet  at 
the  foot  of  the  palace  of  Caligula,  midway  between  the  Via  Sacra 
and  the  Clivus  Victoriae. 

On  this  side  of  the  Forum,  where  the  Cloaca  Maxima  is  now  laid 


1  Its  position  made  the  Atrium  Vestae  very  unhealthy  ;  l)ut,  till  the  fourth 
centniy,  no  physician  was  allowed  to  enter  it ;  as  soon  as  sickness  made  its 
appearance,  the  patient  was  removed  to  the  house  of  her  parents,  or  to  that  of 
some  distinguished  matron.  But  in  their  own  homes,  the  Vestals  were  not 
allowed  to  speak  to  any  one  but  their  mothers. 

2  v.  38. 


Column  of  Phocas  127 

bare,  was  the  famous  Curtian  Lake,  so  called  from  Mettus  Curtius, 
a  Sabine  warrior,  who  with  difficulty  escaped  from  its  quagmires 
to  the  Capitol  after  a  battle  between  Romulus  and  Tatiu.s.i  Tradi- 
tion declares  that  the  quagmire  afterwards  became  a  gulf,  which 
an  oracle  declared  would  never  close  until  that  which  was  most 
important  to  the  Roman  people  was  sacrificed  to  it.  Then  the 
young  Marcus  Curtius,  equipped  in  full  armour,  leapt  his  horse  into 
the  abyss,  exclaiming  that  nothing  was  more  important  to  the 
Roman  people  than  arms  and  courage  :  and  the  gulf  was  closed  for 
ever ;-  it  is  now  believed  to  have  been  the  crater  of  one  of  the  hot 
springs  mentioned  by  Varro.^  Two  altars  were  afterwards  erected 
on  the  site  to  the  two  heroes,  and  a  vine  and  an  olive  tree  grew 
there.* 

'  Hie,  ubi  nunc  fora  sunt,  udae  tenuere  paludes : 

Annie  redundatis  fossa  madebat  aquis. 
Curtius  ille  lacus,  siccas  qui  sustinet  aras, 
Nune  solida  est  tellus,  sed  lacus  ante  fuit.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  vi.  401. 

Some  fountain,  like  those  of  Servilins  and  Juturna,  bearing  the 
name  of  Lacus  Curtius,  must  have  existed  on  this  site  to  imperial 
times,  for  the  Emperor  Galba  was  murdered  there. 

'  A  single  cobort  still  surrounded  Galba,  wben  the  standard-bearer  tore  the 
emperor's  image  from  his  spear-head  and  dashed  it  on  the  ground.  The  soldiers 
were  at  once  decided  for  Otho  ;  swords  were  drawn  and  every  symptom  of  favour 
for  Galba  amongst  the  Ijystanders  was  repressed  by  menaces,  till  they  dispersed 
and  fled  in  horror  from  the  Forum.  At  last  the  Ijearers  of  the  emperor's  litter 
overturned  it  at  the  Curtian  pool  beneath  the  Capitol.  In  a  few  moments 
enemies  swarmed  around  his  body.  A  few  words  he  muttered,  which  have  been 
diversely  reported  :  some  said  that  they  were  al)ject  and  unbecoming ;  others 
affirm  that  he  presented  his  neck  to  the  assassin's  sword,  and  baile  him  strike 
"if  it  were  for  the  good  of  the  republic;"  but  none  listened,  none  perhaps 
heeded  the  words  actually  spoken  ;  Galba's  throat  was  pierced,  but  even  the 
author  of  his  mortal  wound  was  not  ascertained,  while,  his  breast  being  pro- 
tected by  the  cuirass,  his  legs  and  arms  were  hacked  with  repeated  gashes.'— 
Merivale,  vii.  73. 

Opposite  the  Basilica  Julia  is  the  Column  of  Phocas,  a  monument 
probably  of  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  from  the  base  of  which 
the  original  inscription  was  evidently  erased  by  the  exarch 
Smaragdus  in  608,  and  replaced  by  the  inscription  to  Phocas  dis- 
covered in  1813,  which  has  given  a  name  to  the  pillar.     This  is — 

'  The  nameless  column  with  a  buried  base,' 

of  Byron,  but  is  now  neither  nameless  nor  buried,  its  pedestal 
having  been  laid  bare  by  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire  in  1813,  and 
bearing  an  inscription  which  shows  an  intention  that  no  one  ever 
anticipated. 

1  Statius,  i.  6 ;  Livy,  vii.  6. 

2  Livy,  vii.  6 ;  'Varr.  iv.  32. 

3  V.  32. 

4  Pliny,  XV.  18. 


128  Walks  in  Rome 

'  In  the  age  of  Pliocas  (602-10),  the  art  of  erectiiiK  a  c-olunin  like  thiit  of  Trajan 
or  M.  Aurelius  had  bcun  lost.  A  large  and  handsome  Corintliian  pillar,  taken 
from  some  temple  or  hasilica,  was  therefore  i)laeed  in  the  Forum,  on  a  hutre 
])yrainiilal  hasis  iniite  out  of  proportion  to  it,  and  was  surmounted  with  a  statue 
of  I'hoeas  in  gilt  lironze.  It  has  so  little  the  appearance  of  a  monimiental 
column,  that  for  a  loni;  while  it  was  thought  to  lielonp  to  some  ruined  building, 
till,  in  1813.  the  inscription  was  discovered.  The  name  of  Phocas  liad,  indeed, 
been  erased  ;  but  that  it  nnist  have  been  dedicated  to  him  is  shown  by  the  date. 
.  .  .  The  base  of  this  column,  discovered  by  the  excavations  of  1S16  to  have 
rested  on  the  ancient  paven)ent  of  the  Forum,  proves  that  this  former  centre  of 
Roman  life  was  still,  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century,  unencumbered  with 
ruins.'— A'"'''«  '  History  of  the  City  of  Rome' 

'Ce  monument  et  I'inscription  ([Ui  I'accompagne  sent  precieux  pour  I'histoire, 
car  ils  niontrent  le  dernier  terme  de  I'avilissement  oi'i  Kome  devait  toniher. 
Smaragdus  est  le  premier  magistral  de  Rome— mais  ce  magistrat  est  un  prefet, 
rein  du  pouvoir  imperial  et  non  de  ses  concitoyens  ; — il  comniande,  non,  il  est 
vrai.  a  la  capitale  du  nionde,  mais  au  chef-lieu  du  duche  de  Rome.  Ce  prefet,  qui 
n'est  connu  de  I'histoire  que  par  ses  laches  menagements  envers  les  Barbares, 
imagine  de  voler  une  colonne  il  un  beau  temple,  au  temple  d'nn  empereur  de 
quelque  merite,  pour  la  dedier  a  nn  execral)le  tyran  monte  sur  le  trone  par  des 
assassinats,  au  raeurtrier  de  I'empereur  Maurice,  a  I'igiioble  Phocas,  (jue  tout  le 
monde  connait,  grace  a  Corneille,  ([ui  la  encore  trop  manage.  Et  le  plat  drole 
ose  appeler  trfes  clement  celui  qui  fit  egorger  sous  les  yeux  de  Maurice  ses  quatre 
flls  avant  de  I'egorger  lui-meme.  II  decerne  le  litre  de  triomphateur  5.  Phocas, 
qui  laissa  conquerir  par  Chosro6s  tine  bonne  part  de  I'enipire.  II  ose  ecrire : 
"  Pour  les  innombrables  bienfaits  de  sa  piete,  pour  le  repos  procure  h  I'ltalie  et 
a  la  libertc.  "  Ainsi  I'histoire  monumentale  de  la  Rome  de  I'empire  flnit  hon- 
teusement  par  iin  hommage  ridicule  de  la  bassesse  a  la  violence.'— jljnpire,  Emp. 
ii.  389. 

The  pillar  of  Phocas  was  surmounted  by  a  statue  of  gilt  bronze, 
which  belonged  to  an  earlier  date.  The  column  may  be  regarded 
as  the  centre  of  the  Forum  Romanum.  Near  the  east  corner  of 
its  base,  two  low  walls,  or  j^hitei,  of  white  marble,  evidently  of  the 
time  of  Trajan,  were  discovered  in  September  1873.  Their  inner 
surface  is  adorned  with  reliefs  of  the  three  sacrificial  animals,  the 
pig,  ram,  and  bull,'  which  in  their  united  names  gave  the  title  of 
SuovctfniriUa  to  the  great  lu-stral  ceremony.  On  the  outer  side  of 
the  wall  nearest  the  Capitol  is  a  representation  of  the  provision  made 
by  Trajan  for  the  cliildren  of  poor  citizens— 'alimenta  ingenuorum 
puerorum  et  puellarum  Italiae.'  On  the  outside  of  the  farther  wall 
is  repre.sented  the  burning  of  bonds  on  liis  remission  of  debts  due  to 
the  public  treasury.  On  the  background  of  these  reliefs  the  build- 
ings existing  on  the  north  and  west  side  of  the  Roman  Forum  in 
the  time  of  Trajan  are  depicted.  The  Temple  of  Concord  and 
Arch  of  Tiberius  on  the  first,  and  the  lower  storey  of  the  Basilica 
Julia  on  the  second.  Some  imagine,  from  the  sacrificial  animals, 
that  these  walls  were  the  approach  to  a  statue  and  altar  of  the 
deified  emperor  ;  others  think  that  they  marked  the  place  where 

1  Pigs,  the  earliest  source  of  wealth  to  the  first  colonists  of  Rome,  when  the 
valleys  between  the  hills  were  filled  with  quercus  ilex  and  quercus  robur,  were 
regarded  as  an  especially  acceptable  sacrifice.  They  are  represented  here  with  the 
woollen  vittae  or  sacrificial  belts.  The  sheep  also  has  vittae  and  had  gilded 
horns.  The  sacrifice  of  a  sheep  is  the  origin  of  the  word  ovation.  The  bull  is 
seen  crowned  with  laurel.  It  was  always  sacrificed  to  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  and 
was  brought  down  the  Via  Sacra  with  gilded  horns. 


The  Comitium  129 

citizens  going  to  vote  at  elections  had  to  show  their  tesserae  of 
admission  as  they  passed.  A  richly  sculptured  pedestal  near  this 
probably  supported  the  statue  of  an  emperor. 

On  the  left  of  the  Forum,  looking  towards  the  Coliseum,  stood  the 
Tabernae  Argentariae,  the  silversmiths'  shops,  and  beyond  them — 
probably  in  front  of  S.  Adriano — were  the  Tabernae  Novae,  where 
Virginia  was  stabbed  by  her  father  with  a  butcher's  knife,  which  he 
had  seized  from  one  of  the  stalls,  saying, '  This,  my  child,  is  the  only 
way  to  keep  thee  free,' as  he  plunged  it  into  her  heart.^  Near  this 
also  was  the  statue  of  Venus  Cloacina." 

The  front  of  the  church  of  S.  Adriano  is  the  actual  front  of  the 
Comitium  or  Senate  House,  as  it  was  reconstructed  in  the  reign  of 
Domitian.  Its  bronze  doors  were  taken  to  the  Lateran.  It  is  on 
the  site  of  the  cave  and  spring,  where  Tarpeia  was  drawing  water 
when  she  first  saw  Tatius.  TuUus  Hostilius  was  the  first  to  build  the 
Curia  Hostilia,  a  hall  of  stone  for  the  meetings  of  the  Patres 
Conscripti,  and  it  was  approached  by  the  flight  of  steps  down 
which  the  body  of  Servius  Tullius  was  thrown  by  Tarquinius. 

'  Lk  se  reunit,  pour  la  premiere  fois  sous  un  toit,  le  conseil  des  anciens  rois  que 
le  savant  Properce,  avec  un  sentiment  vrai  des  antiquites  romaines,  nous  montre 
tel  qu'il  etait  dans  I'oriKine,  se  rassemblant  an  son  de  la  trompe  pastorale  dans 
un  pr6,  comme  le  peiiple  dans  certains  petits  cantons  de  la  Suisse.'— ^ inhere, 
Hist.  Rom.  ii.  310. 

The  Curia  was  capable  of  containing  six  hundred  senators,  their 
number  in  the  time  of  the  Gracchi.  It  had  no  tribune — each  speaker 
rose  in  turn  and  spoke  in  his  place.  Here  was  '  the  hall  of  assembly 
in  which  the  fate  of  the  world  was  decided.'  The  Curia,  in  which 
Cicero  addressed  the  Senate,  was  destroyed  by  fire,  which  it 
caught  from  the  funeral  pyre  of  Clodius.  It  was  rebuilt  by 
Faustus,  son  of  Sulla,  and  again  on  the  same  site  by  Julius  and 
Augustus  Caesar  as  Curia  Julia,  which  was  rebuilt  after  a  fire 
by  Diocletian.  It  was  in  the  Comitium  that  the  Praetor  Urbanus 
had  his  little  platform  whence  he  had  to  witness  slaves  being 
beaten  to  death.  Around  the  Curia  stood  many  statues  of  Romans 
who  had  rendered  especial  service  to  the  state.  Close  by  the 
old  Curia  was  the  Basilica  Porcia,  built  by  Cato  the  Censor, 
which  was  likewise  burnt  down  at  the  funeral  of  Clodius.  Near 
this  the  base  of  the  rostral  column,  Colonna  Duilia,  raised  in 
honour  of  the  admiral  who  defeated  the  Carthaginian  fleet,  has 
been  found. ^  On  the  right  of  the  Curia  was  the  Argiletum,  which 
contained  the  Temple  of  Janus ;  on  the  left  a  little  square  in 
which  the  Marforio  of  the  Capitol  adorned  a  fountain.  Before 
it  was  the  Comitium,  a  platform  where,  in  the  early  days  of 
the  city,  its  civil  and  political  affairs  were  transacted.     In  front 


1  Livy,  iii.  48. 

2  Pliny,  XV.  29. 

3  Two  reproductions  of  a  similar  column  may  be  seen  on  the  ascent  to  the 
Pincio. 

VOL.  I.  I 


130  Walks  in  Rome 

of  the  Comitium  were  three  pieces  of  marble,  placed  edgeways  like 
a  fence.  Outside  thorn  a  travertine  basis  and  canal  were  dis- 
covered in  1S09,  and,  inside,  an  irregular  square  of  Pvrenean 
marble — black  veined  with  white.  Festus  speaks  of  it,  saying  : 
'Niger  lapis  in  comitia  locum  funestum  significat  ; '  Horace  alludes 
to  the  bones  of  Romulus  as  shielded  from  sun  and  wind  :  'Quaeque 
carent  ventis  et  solibus  ossa  Quirini ; '  and  Varro  describes  the 
grave  of  Romulus  as  '  post  rostra.'  The  black  stone  which  has 
been  discovered  has  thus  been  often  regarded  as  the  tomb  of 
Romulus,  though  some  think  it  only  commemorated  his  foster- 
father,  Faustulus. 

There  are  those  who  think  that  the  black  stone  marks  a  spot 
connected  with  the  story  of  Tarquinius  Priscus.  Having  had  a 
dispute  with  Attus  Navius,  head  of  the  College  of  Augurs,  and 
questioning  his  power,  the  king  bade  the  augur  tell  him  what 
he  was  thinking  of.  'You  are  questioning  if  I  can  cut  through 
a  wet  stone  witli  a  razor ; '  and  he  did  it.  Then  Tarquinius  was 
humbled,  and  the  wet  stone  and  the  razor  were  buried  by  him  in 
the  Comitium,  and  a  fig-tree  was  planted  near  the  spot,  which 
existed — then  gigantic — in  the  time  of  Tacitus.  Close  to  the  fig- 
tree  was  a  statue  of  Marsyas,i  and  this  had  a  stone  screen  round 
its  base.  The  fig-tree  was  called  Ficus  Navia.  It  had  withered 
by  the  time  of  Pliny,  who  says  that  the  priests  had  kept  its  memory 
alive  on  the  spot  by  slips  taken  before  it  died. 

There  are  others  who  recall  that  all  places  stricken  by  lightning 
were  regarded  as  holy — nothing  could  be  built  on  them — and  such 
a  place  was  called  '  fulgoritum.'  It  is  possible  that  a  black  stone 
regarded  as  a  thunderbolt  may  have  been  found  here,  and  looked 
upon  as  a  gift  of  the  gods  to  be  commemorated  by  a  black  marble 
pavement.     This  is  a  commonplace  view. 

The  stone  itself  is  inscribed  with  letters  belonging  to  the  Chalci- 
dean  alphabet,  and  ascribed  to  the  sixth  c.  B.C.  They  are  large, 
clear,  and  deeply  cut.  They  read  vertically  up  and  down  as  oxen 
plough,  and  as  the  stone  is  broken  to  half  its  original  size  (probably 
in  the  sack  by  the  Gauls),  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  every 
alternate  line  are  lost.  As  deciphered,  it  seems  to  be  one  of  the 
sacred  laws — a  rex  legia  (royal  law)  2500  years  old.  Partly 
beneath  the  Lapis  Niger  the  base  of  an  altar  twelve  feet  long  has 
been  discovered. 

A  number  of  vases  and  votive  statuettes  have  been  found  near 
the  stone  with  a  quantity  of  bones,  probably  from  the  expiatory 
sacrifices  after  the  profanation  of  the  sacred  places  of  Rome  by  the 
Gauls.     It  is  thought  that  the  Plutei  already  described  were  used 


'  Placed  in  the  Comitium  as  a  warnin<j  to  political  intriguers.  Pallas  Athene 
had  wished  to  play  on  the  flute,  but  was  so  disgusted  at  the  contortions  it  caused 
her  to  make,  that  she  threw  it  away.  It  was  picked  up  l)y  Marsyas,  who  became 
so  conceited  about  his  playing  that  he  challenged  Apollo  to  a  contest.  The  god 
accepted,  on  the  condition  that  the  vanciuished  competitor  should  be  flayed, 
and  that  was  Marsyas.  who  forthwith  became  the  type  of  presumption. 


The  Curia  131 

iu  the  time  of  Trajan  to  replace  earlier   screens   for  the   black 
stone. 

Between  the  Comitium  and  the  Basilica  Aemilia  stood  the 
Temple  of  Janus  Quirinus.  Procopius,  in  the  sixth  century,  saw 
the  little  Temple  of  Janus  still  standing.  This  was  one  of  the 
many  temples  of  the  great  Sabine  god. 

'  Quum  tot  sint  .Jani ;  cur  stas  sacratus  iu  uuo, 
Hie  ubi  tenipla  foris  juncta  tluobus  habes?' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  i.  257. 

This  was  the  temple  which  was  the  famous  index  of  peace  and 
war,  closed  by  Augustus,  for  the  third  time  from  its  foundation,  after 
the  victory  of  Actium.^ 

' .  .  .  et  vacuum  duellis 
Januni  Quiriuum  clausit,  et  ordinem 
Rectum,  evaganti  fraena  licentiae 
Injecit.' 

—Horace,  Od.  iv.  15. 

The  temple  was  afterwards  a  Christian  church  dedicated  to  S. 
Dionysius.  Besides  this  temple  there  were  three  arches,  whose 
sites  are  unknown,  dedicated  to  Janus,  in  different  parts  of  the 
Forum. 

' .  .  .  Haec  Janus  summus  ab  imo 

Prodocet ' 

'  — Horace,  Ep.  I.  i.  54. 

The  central  arch  was  the  resort  of  brokers  and  money-lenders.^ 

' .  .  .  Postquam  omnis  res  mea  Janum 
Ad  medium  fracta  est." 

—Hor.  Sat.  II.  iii.  18. 

A  little  east  of  S.  Adriano  is  the  site  of  the  Basilica  of  Aemilius 
Paulus,  whose  triumph  brought  such  wealth  into  Rome  that  all 
taxes  were  remitted. 

'In  the  year  699  M.  Aemilius  bought  private  property  on  the  east  side  of  the 
forum,  and  built  his  superb  Basilica  Aemilia,  called  by  Cicero  magnificentismna. 
The  reason  for  this  great  undertaking  is  given  by  the  same  wiiiev— ut  forum 
laxarenms~to  enlarge  the  area  and  extent  of  the  forum.  The  Basilica,  the 
finest  ever  built  in  Rome,  was  dedicated  twenty  year.s  after  the  beginning  of  the 
worli  in  719  A.U.C.,  and  eighteen  years  afterwards,  when  it  had  been  injured  by 
fire,  Augustus  and  other  friends  of  Aemilius  Paulus  supplied  the  funds  necessary  to 
restore  the  edifice,  and  to  decorate  it  witli  the  famous  columns  of  pavonazetto 
marble,  which  were  transferred  five  centuries  later  to  the  basilica  of  S.  Paul 
outside  the  walls  (perhaps  on  account  of  a  similarity  of  their  names),  and 
almost  entirely  destroyed  by  the  great  fire  of  lS23.'—Lanciam,  'Ancient  Rome.' 

The  library  of  Persius  was  kept  in  the  Forum  of  Aemilius  Paulus, 
and  it  was  the  beauty  of  its  buildings  and  ornaments  which  first 
made  the  Romans  feel  the  superiority  of  Greek  art,  and  thus  led  to 

1  Suetonius,  Aug.  22. 

2  Cicero,  De  Off.  it.  25. 


132  Walks  in  Rome 

the  study  of  the  Greek  language.  It  was  lience  that  the  great  tide 
of  Hellenism  flowed  in  upon  Italy. 

The  excavations  recently  carried  on  on  the  site  of  the  Forum  of 
Aemilius  Pauhis,  through  the  bountiful  assistance  which  an  Ameri- 
can, Mr.  Lionel  Phillips,  has  given  to  the  Italian  Government, 
have  not  hitherto  produced  as  great  results  as  were  anticipated. 
There  is  a  careful  representation  of  the  Basilica  Emilia  in  the 
Pianta  Capitoliua. 

Bevond  the  site  of  the  Basilica,  on  the  left,  are  the  remains  of  the 
Temple  of  Antoninus  and  Faustina,  erected  a.d.  141  by  the  flattery 
of  the  senate  to  the  ineraory  of  the  licentious  Empress  Faustina  the 
Elder,  the  faithless  wife  of  Antoninus  Pius,  whom  they  elevated  to 
the  rank  of  a  goddess.  Her  husband,  dying  before  its  completion, 
was  associated  in  her  honours,  and  the  inscription,  which  still 
remains  on  the  portico,  is  '  divo  antonino  et  divae  faustinae 
EX.  s.  C'  The  facade  is  adorned  with  eight  columns  of  cipollino,i 
forty-three  feet  high,  with  ill-executed  acanthus  capitals,  support- 
ing a  frieze  ornamented  with  griffins  and  candelabra.  In  the 
fifteenth  century  the  Guild  of  Apothecaries  was  allowed  to  build 
a  chapel  between  the  columns,  and  the  grooves  cut  in  the  pillars 
mark  its  roof.  There  were  twenty-four  steps  of  white  marble 
towards  the  Via  Sacra  which  were  carried  off  to  S.  Peter's  ;  in  the 
centre  was  the  base  for  a  statue  of  Faustina.  The  marble  coating 
of  the  walls  was  also  removed  as  material  for  the  Fabbrica  di 
S.  Pietro  in  1540.  The  effect  of  what  is  left  of  the  temple  is 
greatly  injured  by  the  hideous  Church  of  S.  Lorenzo  in  Miranda, 
built  by  the  Roman  apothecaries  in  1602,  which  encloses  the  cella 
of  the  ancient  building,  and  whose  name,  says  Ampere,  naively 
expresses  the  admiration  in  which  its  builders  held  these  remains.^ 
Beyond  the  temple  is  a  drain  of  the  first  century,  still  in  working 
order.  Some  huge  blocks  of  travertine  recently  found  opposite 
this  teniple  are  remains  of  the  Arch  (built  B.C.  120  in  the  severest 
style  of  republican  times)  in  honour  of  Q.  Fabius  Maximus  AUo- 
brogicus,  the  conqueror  of  Savoy.  This  arch,  which  was  twelve 
feet  wide.  Fornix  Fabianus,  marked  the  eastern  limit  of  the  Forum. 
Near  it  were  the  statues  of  L.  Aemilius  Paulus  and  P.  Cornelius 
Scipio  Africanus. 

Almost  opposite  the  Temple  of  Antoninus,  near  the  Temple  of 
Castor,  and  facing  the  Capitol,-'  stood,  on  a  lofty  base,  the  small 
Temple  of  Julius  Caesar  (Aedes  Divi  Julii),  surrounded  with  a 
colonnade  of  closely  placed  columns  and  surmounted  by  a  statue  of 
the  deified  triumvir.  This,  built  by  Augustus  42  B.C.,  was  the  first 
temple  in  Rome  which  was  dedicated  to  a  mortal.     An  altar  and 


1  Marmor  Carystium  from  Euboea,  the  '  undosa  Carystos '  of  Statius  (Sylv.  1. 
V.  36),  called  cipoUino  from  its  layers  like  an  onion — cipola.  It  was  the  favourite 
marble  of  the  Antonines. 

'•i  Ampere,  Emp.  ii.  223. 

3  Vitnivius,  iii. 


The  Via  Sacra  133 

column  of  Numidian  marble,  inscribed  with  the  words,  'Parenti 
Patriae,'  had  previously  occupied  the  site. 

'  Fratribus  assiniilis,  qnos  proxiina  templa  teuentes 
Divus  ab  excelsa  Julius  aedc  videt.' 

—Ovid,  Pont.  Bp.  ii.  2. 

'  Hauc  aniraam  iiiterea  caeso  de  corpore  raptam 
Fac  jubar,  ut  semper  Capitolia  nostra  Forumque 
Divus  ab  excelsa  prospectet  Julius  aede. 

—Id.,  Metam.  xv.  840. 

This  column  was  thrown  down  by  Dolabella,  but  the  people 
violently  demanded  its  restitution,  together  with  an  altar  on  which 
the  magistrates  could  celebrate  their  sacrifices.  When  the  temple 
was  to  be  built,  the  architect  was  told  that  its  precinct  must 
include  the  giallo  column  already  in  existence,  and  the  base  of  this 
column  may  still  be  seen.  Dion  Cassius  ^  narrates  that  the  temple 
was  erected  on  the  spot  where  the  body  of  Julius  was  burnt.  It 
was  adorned  by  Augustus  with  the  beaks  of  the  vessels  taken  in 
the  battle  of  Actium,  and  hence  obtained  the  name  of  Rostra  Julia. 
He  also  placed  here  the  picture  of  Venus  Anadyomene  of  Apelles, 
because  Caesar  had  claimed  descent  from  that  goddess,  but  this 
was  removed  by  Nero.  Here,  in  A.D.  14,  the  body  of  Augustus, 
being  brought  from  Nola,  where  he  died,  was  placed  upon  a  bier, 
while  Tiberius  pronounced  a  funeral  oration  over  it  from  the  rostra, 
before  it  was  carried  to  the  Campus  Martins.  The  marble  founda- 
tions of  this  temple  and  of  that  of  Castor  and  Pollux  were  burnt  into 
lime  or  sold  to  stonecutters  in  1547,  together  with  the  stone  walls 
supporting  their  cella  and  colonnades.  In  1546  the  temple  was 
destroyed,  together  with  the  Fasti  Consulares  and  Triumphales 
engraved  on  the  marble  casing  of  its  basement.  Such  poor  remains 
as  still  exist  were  rediscovered  in  1872,  and  consist  of  the  under 
part  of  the  basement  of  the  temple  and  of  the  platform  which 
supported  the  Rostra  Julia.  This  may  still  be  seen,  with  the  base 
of  the  semicircular  tribune  whence  Augustus  pronounced  the 
funeral  oration  of  his  sister  Octavia. 

Close  to  the  Temple  of  Julius  foundations  have  been  discovered 
which  are  identified  with  the  Arch  of  Augustus,  known  from  a 
scholium  to  the  Aeneid,  published  by  Cardinal  Mai,  to  have  been 
built  juxta  aedem  divi  juli.  It  was  an  arch  with  three  passages, 
the  outer  piers  being  narrower  than  the  others,  as  in  the  arch  at 
Orange.^  It  was  destroyed  by  the  workmen  for  the  Fabbrica  di 
S.  Pietro  between  1540  and  1546. 

The  line  of  the  Via  Sacra  was  made  to  turn  sharply  by  the 
erection  of  the  Temple  of  Caesar  and  other  buildings.  The  earliest 
Via  Sacra — so  called  because  it  was  the  scene  of  the  treaty  between 
Romulus  and  the  Sabine  king  Tatius — was  straight.  The  repub- 
lican Via  Sacra  bent  at  the  corner  of  the  Vicus  Tuscus  to  the  south- 
east, skirting  the  temples  of  Castor  and  Vesta  and  the  Regia,  a  line 

1  xlvii.  18. 

'■i  See  F.  M.  Nichols  in  the  Athenaeum,  April  28,  1888. 


134  Walks  in  Rome 

which  was  the  shortest,  and  to  which  it  is  evident  that  the  popu- 
lation returned  after  the  fall  of  the  empire.  The  imperial  Via 
Sacra,  between  the  Temple  of  Faustina  and  the  Arch  of  Titus,  was 
a  handsome  wide  street,  with  side- walks,  ornamented  by  a  popula- 
tion of  honorarj'  statues,  some  of  them  placed  in  elaborate  shrines, 
of  which  the  shrine  in  honour  of  the  young  Emperor  Gordian  is 
an  example.  Pedestals  with  inscriptions  to  Septimius  Severus, 
Claudius,  Caracalla,  Antoninus  Pius,  and  Fabius  Titianus  (prefect 
of  Home  A.D.  389)  were  found  in  the  excavations  of  1882.^ 

Now  on  the  right  was  the  Regia,  the  official  residence  of  the 
Pontifex  Maximus,  the  head  of  the  college,  which  was  itself  over 
all  other  colleges.  Here  the  lances  of  Mars  were  kept  in  a  sacred 
chapel.  Pirro  Ligorio  saw  the  Regia  early  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  he  says  that  it  took  thirty  days  to  demolish  the  ruins.  In 
front  of  the  Regia  were  two  laurels,  the  sacred  trees  of  Augustus. 
In  the  fire  of  Commodus  the  Regia  was  burnt,  but  the  laurels  were 
saved.  Julius  Caesar  had  lived  in  the  Regia,  but  Augustus  gave  it 
to  increase  the  house  of  the  Vestals,  when  he  built  the  Domus 
Augusta.  The  Fasti  Consulares  now  in  the  Capitol  were  brought 
from  the  Regia. 

In  front  of  the  church  of  SS.  Cosmo  and  Damian  the  remains 
of  a  Temple  of  Romulus,  son  of  Maxentius  (formerly  called  the 
Temple  of  Remus,  then  of  the  Penates)  have  been  excavated  to  the 
old  level.  Maxentius,  of  the  famous  Giulio  Romano  fresco  in  the 
Vatican,  built  it  to  his  son  in  308 — round,  with  a  roof  covered  with 
gilt  tiles  of  a  fish-scale  pattern.  The  round  cella  of  the  temple 
was  appropriated  by  Felix  IV.  (A.D.  527)  as  a  vestibule  to  his 
church,  and  remains  in  perfect  preservation.  Its  fa9ade  was  orna- 
mented by  columns  of  cipoUino,  of  which  two  occupy  their  old 
pedestals.  One  was  taken  away  by  Urban  VIII.;  of  the  fourth 
only  the  pedestal  remains.  The  bronze  door  with  its  porphyry 
columns,  which  had  been  raised  by  Urban  VIII.  to  the  modern 
level  of  the  church,  was  lowered  to  its  old  site  in  1880.  The 
richly  decorated  coi'nice  was  apparently  taken  from  an  earlier 
building. 

Behind,  set  angle-wise,  was  a  large  building,  the  Templum 
Sacrae  Urbis,  which  Felix  IV.,  to  enlarge  his  church,  joined  to  the 
other  temple.  The  Temple  Sacrae  Urbis,  which  was  built  by  Ves- 
pasian, had  been  destroyed  in  the  fire  of  Commodus,  but  restored 
by  Severus  and  Caracalla.  To  its  outer  wall,  towards  the  town, 
Vespasian  had  affixed  a  great  map,  and  this  being  destroyed  in 
the  fire,  was  renewed  by  Severus- — the  famous  Forma  Urbis,  of 
which  the  fragments  are  preserved  at  the  Capitol.  Over  the  portico 
was  an  immense  inscription.  Much  of  the  time  of  Vespasian  may 
be  seen  in  the  remains  of  the  Templum  Sacrae  Urbis,  including 
a  noble  travertine  doorway,  once  coated  with  white  marble. 

1  See  the  Letters  of  Rudolfo  Lanciani  in  the  Athenaeum,  .June  10,  1S82. 

2  512  pieces  of  the  Pianta  were  found  in  the  Via  Giulia,  having  been  taken 
there  l)y  Paul  III.  in  1533,  to  be  employed  as  marble  in  his  builders'  workshops, 
but  left  unused. 


Basilica  of  Constantine  135 

'  The  entire  edifice  of  the  Vatican  can  now  again  be  admired,  from  its  ancient 
pavement  to  the  top  of  its  vaulted  ceiling,  and  recalls,  though  of  smaller  pro- 
portions, the  Pantheon,  even  to  the  vaulted  ceiling  with  its  round  hole,  through 
which  liglit  can  penetrate  to  the  interior  of  the  temple.'— L^n't^i  Borsan. 

The  back  wall  of  the  temple  formed  part  of  the  enclosure  of  the 
Forum  Pacis,  where  a  pedestal  has  been  found  with  an  inscription 
showing  that  it  belonged  to  a  replica  of  the  famous  statue  of 
Pythokles,  by  Polykletos,  at  Olympia.  This  pedestal  is  now  in 
the  Museo  Municipale  al  Celio. 

Here,  in  the  Forum  Pacis  of  Vespasian,  was  the  site  of  his 
Temple  of  Peace,  burnt  down  in  the  time  of  Commodus.  This 
temple  was  the  great  museum  of  Rome  under  the  empire,  and 
contained  the  seven-branched  candlestick  and  other  treasures 
brought  from  Jerusalem,^  as  well  as  all  the  works  of  art  which  had 
been  collected  in  the  palace  of  Nero,  and  which  were  removed 
hither  by  Vespasian.  A  statue  of  the  Nile,  with  children  playing 
round  it,  is  mentioned  by  Pliny  as  among  the  sights  in  the  Temple 
of  Peace  ;  -  a  fragment  of  its  precinct  wall  still  exists,  built  of 
massive  blocks  of  peperino,  with  a  doorway  formed  in  travertine 
under  a  flat  arch. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Via  Sacra  are  remains  of  a  Memorial 
Shrine  raised  by  the  people  of  Tarsus  to  the  Emperor  Gordian  the 
Younger,  but  with  an  inscription  which  gives  less  praise  to  the 
emperor  than  to  the  town — '  the  most  excellent,  the  largest,  the 
handsomest,  the  metropolis  of  these  provinces.' 

Near  this  point  Valerius  Publicola  had  a  house,  to  which  he 
removed  from  the  Velia,  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of  the  Roman 
people. 

'  Le  sentiment  d'effroi  que  la  demeure  ftodale  des  Valerius  causait,  6tait  pareil 
k  celui  qu'inspiraient  aux  Romains  du  moyen  age  les  tours  des  barons,  que  le 
peuple,  d6s  qu'il  etait  le  maitre,  se  hatait  de  d^molir.  Valerius  n'attendit  pas 
qu'on  se  portat  a  cette  extr6mit6,  et  il  vint  habiter  au  pied  de  la  Velia.  C'est  le 
premier  triomphe  des  plebeiens  sur  I'aristocratie  romaine  et  la  premiere  con- 
cession de  cette  aristocratic.' — Ampere,  Hist.  Rom.  ii.  274. 

Close  also  to  this  portion  of  the  Via  Sacra  stood  a  statue  of  Valeria, 
daughter  of  Publicola,  by  whom  the  honours  of  the  virgin  Cloelia 
were  disputed.  A  branch  of  the  Via  Sacra  turned  to  the  left  from 
hence  towards  the  sacellum  of  the  goddess  Strenia  in  the  Carinae. 

A  little  farther  on  are  three  gigantic  arches,  being  all  that 
remains  of  the  magnificent  Basilica  of  Constantine,  which  was  320 
feet  in  length  and  235  feet  in  width.  It  was  begun  by  Maxentius, 
and  finished  by  Constantine,^  who  appropriated  the  basilica  of  his 
rival.  In  the  basilica  of  Maxentius,  the  apse  was  at  the  end 
(opposite  the  then  entrance)  towards  the  Templum  Sacrae  Urbis. 
Constantine  moved  it  to  be  opposite  his  own  entrance,  and  placed 
his   statue  there,  the   side    apses   being  occupied  by  statues  of 


1  Josephus,  vii.  37.  '^  Pliny,  xxxvi.  7. 

3  Aur.  Victor.  Caes.  40,  26. 


13G  Walks  in  Rome 

members  of  his  family.  The  panelling  in  the  apses  was  of  marble 
with  gilt  roses.  The  basilica  became  the  great  law  court  and 
contained  many  tribunals.  The  existing  ruins  are  only  those  of 
one  of  the  aisles  of  the  basilica.  There  are  traces  of  an  entrance 
towards  the  Coliseum.  The  roof  was  supported  by  eight  Corinthian 
columns,  of  which  one,  remaining  here  till  the  time  of  Paul  V., 
was  removed  by  him  to  the  piazza  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  where  it 
still  stands.  The  building  of  Constantine  is  remarkable  as  the  last 
which  bears  the  impress  of  the  grandeur  of  ancient  Roman  genius. 
Traces  of  religious  paintings,  seen  by  Nibby  in  its  eastern  apse, 
show  that  the  building  was  used  for  Christian  purposes.  In  front 
of  the  Basilica  are  the  remains  of  the  Horrea  Peperitae — the 
oriental  spice-house  of  Diocletian.  A  way  was  cut  through  it  to 
make  a  more  easy  entrance  to  the  little  Forum  Pacis,  and  this 
dark  way  became  famous  for  murders — 'Arco  di  Ladroni.'  On 
the  other  side  of  the  Via  Sacra  are  remains  of  the  Porticus  Mar- 
garitaria,  containing  shops  of  the  Margaritarii  (jewellers),  Unguen- 
tarii  (cosmetic  sellers),  Coronari  (jewellers,  ointment  sellers,  fan- 
makers),  taking  up  the  space  between  the  Via  Sacra  and  Via  Nova. 

On  the  right,  on  either  side  of  the  entrance  to  the  Palatine,  were 
placed  two  ancient  pedestals,  found  in  1547  near  the  Arch  of 
Septimius  Severus.  That  on  the  right  belonged  to  an  equestrian 
statue  of  Constantius,  erected  by  Neraetius  Cerealis,  prefect  of  the 
city,  A.D.  353,  in  honour  of  the  victory  over  Maxentiu.s.  On  the 
left-hand  pedestal  the  Suovetaurilia  is  sculptured,  with  a  con- 
gratulatory inscription  to  Constantius  and  Galerius. 

Besides  those  which  we  have  noticed,  there  is  mention  in  clas- 
sical authors  of  many  other  buildings  and  statues  which  were 
once  crowded  into  the  narrow  space  which  has  been  described. 

The  modern  name  of  Campo  Vaccine,  by  whicn  the  Forum  was 
recently  known,  is  supposed  by  some  antiquaries  to  be  derived 
from  Vitruvius  Vacca,  who  once  had  a  house  there. 

'  La  guerre  aux  habitants  de  Privernuni  (Piperno)  rattache  a  line  locality  du 
I'alatin.  .  .  .  Les  habitants  de  Fondi  avaient  fait  cause  commune  avec  les  habi- 
tants de  Privernum.  Leur  clief,  Vitruvius  Vacca,  possedait  une  niaison  sur  le 
Palatin  ;  c'etait  un  homme  considerable  dans  son  pays  et  menie  a  Rome.  lis 
demandcrent  et  obtinrent  grace.  Privernuni  fut  pris,  et  Vitruvius  Vacca,  qui 
s'y  etait  refugi6,  conduit  a  Rome,  enferme  dans  la  prison  ilamertine  pour  y  etre 
garde  jusqu'au  retour  du  consul,  et  alors  battu  de  verges  et  mis  a  mort ;  sa 
maison  du  Palatin  fut  rasee,  et  le  lieu  oil  elle  avait  ete  garda  le  nom  de  Pres  de 
Vacca.' — Ampere,  Hist.  Rom.  iii.  17. 

But  the  name  will  seem  singularly  appropriate  to  those  who  were 
familiar  with  the  groups  of  meek-faced  oxen  of  the  Campagna, 
which  used  always  to  be  seen  lying  in  the  shade  under  the  trees 
of  the  picturesque  Forum  of  the  last  generation,  or  drinking  at  its 
water-troughs. 

'  "Romanoque  Foro  et  lautis  mugire  Carinis." 

' Ce  vers  ma  toujours  profond6ment  frapp6,  lorsque  je  traversais  le  Forum, 
aujourd'hui  Cainpo  Vaccino  (le  champ  du  betail);  je  voyais  en  effet  presque 
toujours  a  son  extr(5mit6  des  bocufs  couch6s  au  pied  du  Palatin.  Viigile,  se 
reportant  de  la  Rome  de  son  temps  a  la  Rome  ancienne  d'Evandre,  ne  trouvait 


Campo  Vaccino  137 

pas  d'image  plus  frappaiite  du  changenient  produit  par  les  sifecles,  que  la 
presence  dun  troupeau  de  bojufs  dans  le  lieu  destine  a  ctre  le  Forum.  Eh  bien, 
le  jour  devait  venir  oii  ce  qui  etait  pour  Virgile  un  pass6  lointain  et  pres(iue 
incroyable  se  reproduirait  dans  la  suite  des  ages ;  le  Forum  devait  etre  de 
nouveau  un  lieu  agreste,  ses  magnificences  s'en  aller  et  les  Ijcoufs  y  revenir. 

'J'aimais  a  les  contempler  iX  travers  quelques  colonnes  moins  vieilles  que  les 
souvenirs  qu'ils  me  retra§aient,  reprenant  possession  de  ce  sol  d'oii  les  avait 
chassis  la  liberte,  la  gloire,  Ciceron,  Cesar,  et  oii  devait  les  ramener  la  plus 
grande  vicissitude  de  I'histoire,  la  destruction  de  I'empire  roniain  par  les  barbares. 
Ce  que  Virgile  trouvait  si  Strange  dans  le  passe  n'etonne  plus  dans  le  present; 
les  boeufs  mugissent  au  Forum  ;  ils  s'y  couchent  et  y  runiinent  aujourd'hui,  de 
meme  qu'au  temps  d'Evandre  et  comme  s'il  n'6tait  rien  anive.'— Ampere  Hist 
Horn.  i.  211. 

'In  many  a  heap  the  ground 
Heaves,  as  if  Ruin  in  a  frantic  mood 
Had  done  its  utmost.     Here  and  there  appears, 
As  left  to  show  his  handiwork,  not  ours. 
An  idle  column,  a  half-buried  arch, 
A  wall  of  some  great  temple.     It  was  once, 
And  long,  the  centre  of  their  Universe, 
The  Forum — whence  a  mandate,  eagle-winged, 
Went  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.    Let  us  descend 
Slowly.     At  every  step  much  may  be  lost. 
The  very  dust  we  tread  stirs  as  with  life, 
And  not  a  breath  Vint  from  the  ground  sends  up 
Something  of  human  grandem\ 

Now  all  is  changed  ;  and  here,  as  in  the  wild, 

The  day  is  silent,  dreary  as  the  night ; 

None  stirring,  save  the  herdsman  and  his  herd. 

Savage  alike  ;  or  they  that  would  explore, 

Discuss  and  learnedly  ;  or  they  that  come 

(And  there  are  many  who  have  crossed  the  earth) 

That  they  may  give  the  hours  to  meditation, 

And  wander,  often  saying  to  themselves, 

"  This  was  the  Roman  Forum  !  "  ' 

— Rogers'  'Italy.' 

'We  descended  into  the  Forum,  the  light  fast  fading  away  and  throwing  a 
kindred  soberness  over  the  scene  of  ruin.  The  soil  has  risen  from  rubbish  at 
least  fifteen  feet,  so  that  no  wonder  the  hills  look  lower  than  they  used  to  do, 
having  been  never  very  considerable  at  the  first.  There  it  was  one  scene  of 
desolation,  from  the  massy  foundation-stones  of  the  Capitoline  Temple,  which 
were  laid  by  Tarquinius  the  Proud,  to  a  single  pillar  erected  in  honour  of  Phocas, 
the  Eastern  emperor,  in  the  fifth  century.  AA'hat  the  fragments  of  pillars  be- 
longed to,  perhaps  we  can  never  know  ;  but  that  I  think  matters  little.  I  care 
not  whether  it  was  a  temple  of  Jupiter  Stator  or  the  Basilica  Julia,  but  one 
knows  that  one  is  on  the  ground  of  the  Forum,  under  the  Capitol,  the  place 
where  the  tribes  assembled  and  the  orators  spoke  ;  the  scene,  in  short,  of  all  the 
internal  struggles  of  the  Roman  people.' — Arnold's  Journal. 

'  They  passed  the  solitary  column  of  Phocas,  and  looked  down  into  the  ex- 
cavated space,  where  a  confusion  of  pillars,  arches,  pavements,  and  shattered 
blocks  and  shafts— the  crumbs  of  various  ruins  dropped  from  the  devouring 
maw  of  Time— stand,  or  lie,  at  the  base  of  the  Capitoline  Hill.  That  renowned 
hillock  (for  it  is  little  more)  now  rose  abruptly  above  them.  The  ponderous 
masonry,  with  which  the  hillside  is  built  up,  is  as  old  as  Rome  itself,  and  looks 
likely  to  endure  while  the  world  retains  any  substance  or  permanence.  It  once 
sustained  the  Capitol,  and  now  bean  up  the  great  pile  which  the  media;val 
builders  raised  on  the  antique  foundation,  and  that  still  loftier  tower,  which 
looks  abroad  upon  a  larger  page  of  deeper  historic  interest  than  any  other  scene 
can  show.  On  the  same  pedestal  of  Roman  masonry  other  structures  will  doubt- 
less arise,  and  vanish  like  ephemeral  things. 

'  To  a  spectator  on  the  spot,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  events  of  Roman  history, 


138  Walks  in  Rome 

and  of  Roman  life  itself,  appear  not  so  distant  as  the  Gothic  ages  which  suc- 
ceeded them.  We  stand  in  the  Forum,  or  on  the  height  of  the  Capitol,  and  seem 
to  see  the  Roman  epoch  close  at  hand.  We  forget  that  a  chasm  extends  between 
it  and  onrselves,  in  which  lie  all  those  dark,  rude,  unlettered  centuries,  around 
the  liirthtiine  of  Christianity,  as  well  as  the  age  of  chivalry  and  romance,  the 
fiiidal  .system,  and  the  infancy  of  a  better  civilisation  than  that  of  Rome.  Or, 
if  wc  rcincMiber  these  mediaeval  times,  they  look  farther  off  than  the  Augustan 
a^ie.  The  reason  may  be,  that  tlie  old  Roman  literature  survives,  and  creates 
fni-  us  an  intimacy  with  the  classic  ages  which  we  have  no  means  of  forming 
with  the  sul)sei|uent  ones. 

'The  Italian  climate,  moreover,  robs  age  of  its  reverence,  and  makes  it  look 
nearer  than  it  is.  Not  the  Coliseum,  nor  the  tombs  of  the  Appian  Way,  nor  the 
oldest  i)illar  in  the  Forum,  nor  any  other  Roman  ruin,  be  it  as  dilapidated  as  it 
may,  ever  give  the  impression  of  venerable  antiquity  which  we  slither,  along 
with  the  ivy,  from  the  grey  walls  of  an  English  abbey  or  castle.  And  yet  every 
brick  and  stone,  which  we  pick  up  among  the  former,  had  fallen  ages  before  the 
foundation  of  the  latter  was  begun.' — Hawthorne. 

'  A  Rome,  vous  marchez  sur  les  pierres  qui  out  et6  les  dieux  de  C6sar  et  de 
Pom  pee  :  vous  considerez  la  ruine  de  ces  grands  ouvrages,  dont  la  vieillesse  est 
encore  belle,  et  vous  vous  promererez  tons  les  jours  parmi  les  histoires  et  les 
fables.  .  .  .  II  n'y  a  que  Rome  loii  la  vie  soit  agreable,  oii  le  corps  trouve  ses 
plaisirs  et  I'esprit  les  siens,  ou  Ton  est  k  la  source  des  belles  choses.  Rome  est 
cause  que  vous  n'etes  plus  barbares  :  elle  vous  a  appris  la  civility  et  la  religion. 
...  II  est  certain  que  je  ne  monte  jamais  an  Palatin  ni  au  Capitole  que  je  n'y 
change  d'esprit,  et  qu'il  ne  me  vienne  d'autres  pensees  que  les  miennes  ordinaires. 
Cet  air  m'inspire  quelque  chose  de  grand  et  de  g^nereux  que  je  n'avais  point 
auparavant :  si  je  reve  deux  heures  au  bord  du  Tibre,  je  suis  aussi  savant  que  si 
j'avais  (5tudi(i  huit  iom-&.'— Balzac. 


Before  leaving  the  Forum  we  must  turn  from  its  classical  to 
its  mediaeval  remains,  and  examine  the  very  interesting  group  of 
churches  which  have  sprung  up  amid  its  ruins. 

Almost  opposite  the  Mamertine  Prisons,  surmounted  by  a  hand- 
some dome,  is  the  Church  of  S.  Martina,  which  contains  the  original 
model,  bequeathed  by  the  sculptor  Thorwaldsen,  of  his  Copen- 
hagen statue  of  Chri.st  in  the  act  of  benediction.  The  opposite 
transept  contains  a  very  inferior  statue  of  Religion  by  Canova. 
The  figure  of  the  saint  by  Guerini  reposes  beneath  the  high  altar, 
as  at  S.  Cecilia.  The  subterranean  church  beneath  this  building 
is  well  worth  visiting.  An  ante-chapel  adorned  with  statues  of 
four  virgin  martyrs  leads  to  a  beautiful  chapel  erected  at  the  cost 
and  from  the  designs  of  Pietro  da  Cortona,  whose  tomb  stands 
near  its  entrance  with  a  fine  bust  by  Bernini.  In  the  centre  of 
the  inner  chapel,  lamps  are  always  burning  round  the  magnificent 
bronze  altar  which  covers  the  shrine  of  S.  Martina,  and  beneath  it 
you  can  discover  the  martyr's  tomb  by  the  light  of  a  torch  which 
a  monk  lets  down  through  a  hole.  In  the  tribune  is  an  ancient 
throne.  A  side-chapel  contains  the  grave  in  which  the  body  of  the 
virgin  saint,  with  three  other  martyrs,  her  companions,  were  found 
in  161^4 ;  it  is  adorned  with  a  fine  bas-relief  by  Ahjardi.  An  in- 
scription, found  in  the  Catacombs  of  S.  Agnese,  commemorates  the 
Christian  Gaudentius,  the  supposed  architect  of  the  Coliseum, 
afterwards  martyred  in  his  own  building. 


S.  Martina  139 

'  At  the  foot  of  the  Capitoline  hill,  on  the  left  hand  as  we  descend  from  the 
Ara-Coeli  into  the  Forum,  there  stood  in  very  ancient  times  a  small  chapel 
dedicated  to  S.  Martina,  a  Roman  virgin.  The  veneration  paid  to  her  was  of 
very  early  date,  and  the  Roman  people  were  accustomed  to  assemlile  there  on 
the  first  day  of  the  year.  This  observance  was,  however,  confined  to  the  people, 
and  not  very  general  till  1634  ;  an  era  which  connects  her  in  rather  an  interest- 
ing manner  with  the  history  of  art.  In  this  year,  as  they  were  about  to  repair 
her  chapel,  they  discovered,  walled  into  the  foundations,  a  sarcophagus  of  terra- 
cotta, in  which  was  the  body  of  a  young  female,  whose  severed  head  reposed  in 
a  separate  casket.  These  remains  were  very  naturally  supposed  to  be  those  of 
the  saint  who  had  been  so  long  venerated  on  that  spot.  The  discovery  was 
hailed  with  the  utmost  exultation,  not  by  the  people  only,  but  by  those  who 
led  the  minds  and  consciences  of  the  people.  The  Pope  himself,  Urban  VIII., 
composed  hymns  in  her  praise  ;  and  Cardinal  Francesco  Barberini  undertook  to 
rebuild  her  church.  Amongst  those  who  shared  the  general  enthusiasm  was 
the  painter  Pietro  da  Cortona,  who  was  at  Rome  at  the  time,  who  very  earnestly 
dedicated  himself  and  his  powers  to  the  glorification  of  S.  Martina.  Her  church 
had  already  been  given  to  the  Academy  of  Painters,  and  consecrated  to  S.  Luke, 
their  patron  saint.  It  is  now  "  San  Luca  and  (Santa  Martina."  Pietro  da  Cortona 
erected  at  his  own  cost  the  chapel  of  S.  Martina,  and,  when  he  died,  endowed 
it  with  his  whole  fortune.  He  painted  for  the  altar-piece  his  best  picture,  in 
which  the  saint  is  represented  as  triumphing  over  the  idols,  while  the  temple 
in  which  she  has  been  led  to  sacrifice  is  struck  by  lightning  from  heaven,  and 
falls  in  ruins  around  her.  In  a  votive  picture  of  S.  Martina  kneeling  at  the  feet 
of  the  Virgin  and  Child,  she  is  represented  as  very  young  and  lovely  :  near  her, 
a  horrid  instrument  of  torture,  a  two-prunged  fork  with  barbed  extremities, 
and  the  lictor's  axe,  signifying  the  matter  of  her  death.' — Jameson's  'Sacred  arid 
Legendary  Art.' 

The  feast  of  the  saint  is  observed  here  on  30th  January,  with 
much  solemnity.  Then,  in  all  the  Roman  churches,  is  sung  the 
Hymn  of  S.  Martina  : — 

'  Martinae  celebri  plaudite  noniini, 
Cives  Roniulei,  plaudite  gloriae  ; 
Insignem  meritis  dicite  virginem, 
Cliristi  dicite  martyrem. 

Haec  dum  conspicuis  orta  parentibus 
Inter  delicias,  inter  amabiles 
Luxus  illecebras,  ditibus  affluit 
Faustae  muneribus  domus. 

Vitae  despiciens  commoda,  dedicat 
Se  rerum  Domino,  et  muniflca  manu 
Christi  pauperibus  distribuens  opes, 
Quaerit  praemia  coelitum. 

A  nobis  abigas  lubrica  gaudia 
Tu,  qui  martyribus  dexler  ades,  Deus 
Une  et  trine  :  tuis  da  famulis  jubar, 
Quo  Clemens  animos  beas.    Amen.' 

There  is  nothing  especial  to  notice  in  S.  Adriano,  which  is  built 
in  the  ruins  of  the  basilica  of  Aemilius  Paulus,  and  which  Lanciani 
believes  to  have  itself  been  the  Curia  of  Diocletian, ^  or  in  S.  Lorenzo 
in  Miranda,  which  occupies  the  temple  of  Antoninus  and  Faustina  ; 
but  S.  Maria  Liberatrice  was  more  interesting,  which  was  built  on 
part  of  the  site  of  the  Atrium  Vestae,  and  was  destroyed  in  the 
spring  of  1900,  in  the  hope  of  finding  the  stairs  which  led  from 

1  Its  bronze  doors,  removed  by  Alexander  VII.,  are  now  at  the  entrance  to 
the  nave  of  the  Lateran. 


140  Walks  in  Rome 

the  Temple  of  Castor  to  the  Palace  of  Caligula,  and  up  which 
the  vestals  fled  with  their  treasures  in  the  great  fire  under  Corn- 
modus.  It  commemorated  by  its  name  a  curious  legend  of  the 
fourth  century.  On  this  site,  it  is  said,  dwelt  in  a  cave  a  terrible 
dragon,  who  had  slain  three  hundred  persons  with  the  poison 
of  his  breath.  Into  this  cave,  instructed  thereto  by  S.  Peter, 
and  entrusting  himself  to  the  care  of  the  Virgin,  descended  S. 
Silvester  the  Pope,  attended  by  two  acolytes  bearing  torches  ; 
and  here,  having  pronounced  the  name  of  Christ,  he  was  mira- 
culously enabled  to  bind  the  dragon  and  to  shut  him  up  till  the 
Day  of  Judgment.  But  when  he  ascended  in  safety,  he  found 
at  the  mouth  of  the  cave  two  magicians,  who  had  followed  him  in 
the  hope  of  discovering  some  imposture,  dying  from  the  poison  of 
the  dragon's  breath — and  these  also  he  saved  alive.  The  church 
was  formerly  called  S.  Silvestro  in  Lacu.  It  was  of  little  importance 
internally,  but  externally  added  greatly  to  the  picturesqueness  of 
the  Forum,  and  all  artists  must  regret  it. 

We  now  reach  the  circular  edifice  which  has  been  so  long  known 
as  the  Temple  of  Remus,  but  which  was  dedicated  to  Romulus, 
son  of  Maxentius,  and  which,  owing  to  recent  excavations,  must 
now  be  entered  from  the  side  street.  The  porphyry  jiiHars  at  the 
original  entrance,  supporting  a  richly  sculptured  cornice,  were 
probably  set  up  thus  when  the  temple  was  turned  into  a  church. 
The  bronze  doors  were  brought  from  Perugia.  If,  as  was  long 
supposed,  the  temple  on  this  site  was  that  of  the  Penates,  the 
protectors  against  all  kinds  of  illness  and  misfortunes,  the  modern 
dedication  to  the  protecting  physicians  Cosmo  and  Damian  may 
have  had  some  reference  to  that  which  went  before. 

The  Church  of  SS.  Cosmo  e  Damiano,  formed  by  the  union  of 
two  temples,  which  were  the  earliest  example  of  a  pagan  temple 
being  applied  to  Christian  use,  was  founded  by  Pope  Felix  IV.  in 
527,  and  restored  by  Adrian  I.  in  780  ;  Sergius  I.  built  the  ambones 
and  ciborium  above  the  confession  in  695.  In  1633  the  whole 
building  was  modernised  by  Urban  VIII.,  under  Aririgucci,  who, 
in  order  to  raise  it  to  the  later  level  of  the  soil,  cut  the  ancient 
church  in  half  by  a  partition,  recently  removed,  dividing  it  into 
upper  and  lower  churches. 

'  The  entire  edifice  of  the  V.  can  now  again  be  admired,  from  its  ancient 
pavement  to  the  top  of  its  vaulted  ceiling,  and  recalls,  though  of  smaller  pro- 
portions, the  Tantheon,  even  to  the  vaulted  ceiling  with  its  round  hole,  through 
which  light  can  penetrate  to  the  interior  of  the  temple.' — Luigi  Borsari. 

The  tomb  of  the  martyrs  Cosmo  and  Damian  is  beneath  the  altar, 
which  is  formed  of  beautiful  transparent  marble.  Under  a  side 
altar  is  the  grave  of  Felix  IV.  The  lowest  church  (the  original 
crypt),  which  is  very  small,  is  said  to  have  been  a  place  of  re- 
fuge during  the  early  Christian  persecutions.  Here  is  shown  the 
altar  at  which  Felix  IV.  celebrated  mass  while  his  converts  were 
hiding  here — the  grave  in  which  the  body  of  the  pope  was  after- 
wards discovered — and  a  miraculous  spring,  still  flowing,  which  is 


SS.  Cosmo  and  Damiano  141 

said  to  have  burst  forth  in  answer  to  his  prayers  that  he  mi^ht  have 
wherewithal  to  baptiz  e  his  disciples.  A  passage  said  formerly  to  lead 
from  hence  to  the  Catacombs  of  S.  Sebastian  was  walled  up  in  the 
middle  of  the  XIX.  c.  by  the  paternal  Government,  because  twenty 
persons  were  lost  in  it.  In  this  crypt  was  found  the  greater  portion 
of  the  famous  '  Pianta  Capitolina,'  formerly  preserved  in  the  Farnese 
Palace,  and  now  in  the  Capitol.  In  the  upper  church,  on  the  right 
of  the  entrance  from  the  circular  vestibule  into  the  body  of  the 
building,  is  this  inscription  : — 

'L'  imasine  ili  Mcailonua  Santissima  che  esiste  all'  altar  magg.  parlo  a  S. 
Gregorio  Papa  dicendogli,  "  Percht;  piii  non  mi  sahiti  nieiitre  passaiulo  eri  solito 
salutarmi?"  II  santo  domando  perdona  e  concesse  a  (luolli  che  celebrano  in 
quell'  altare  la  liberazione  dell'  aniiiia  dal  purgatorio,  ciot;  per  quell'  aninia  per 
la  quale  si  celebra  la  niessa.'  i 

Another  inscription  narrates  : — 

'  Gregorius  primus  concessit  omnibus  et  singulis  visitantibus  ecclesiam  istam 
sanctorum  Cosmae  et  Damiani  mille  annos  de  iudulgentia,  et  in  die  stationis 
ejusdem  ecclesiae  idem  Gregorius  concessit  decern  millia  annorum  de  indulgentia.' 

Among  the  many  relics  preserved  in  this  church  are  '  Una  ampulla 
lactis  Beatae  Mariae  Virginis  ; '  '  De  Domo  Sanctae  Mariae  Magda- 
lenae  ; '  '  De  Domo  Sancti  Zachariae  prophetae  ! ' 

Deserving  of  the  most  minute  attention  is  the  grand  mosaic  of 
Christ  coming  on  the  clouds  of  sunset. 

'  The  mosaics  of  SS.  Cosmo  and  Damiano  (A.D.  526-30)  are  the  finest  of  ancient 
Christian  Rome.  Above  the  arch  appear,  on  eaoli  side  of  the  Lamb,  four  angels, 
of  excellent  but  somewhat  severe  style ;  then  follow  various  apocalyptic  em- 
blems ;  a  modern  walling-up  having  left  but  few  traces  of  the  twenty-four  elders. 
A  gold  surface,  dimmed  by  age,  with  little  purple  clouds,  forms  the  background  : 
though  in  Rome,  at  least,  at  both  an  earlier  and  later  date,  a  blue  ground 
prevailed.  In  the  apsis  itself,  upon  a  dark-blue  ground,  with  golden-edged 
clouds,  is  seen  the  colossal  figure  of  Christ ;  the  right  hand  raised,  either  in 
benediction  or  teaching,  the  left  holding  a  written  scroll ;  above  is  the  hand, 
which  is  the  emblem  of  the  First  Person  of  the  Trinity.  Below,  on  each  side, 
the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul  are  leading  SS.  Cosmo  and  Damiano,  each  with 
crowns  in  their  hands,  towards  the  Saviour,  followed  by  S.  Theodore  on  the 
right,  and  by  Pope  Felix  IV.,  the  founder  of  the  church,  on  the  left.  This 
latter,  unfortunately,  is  an  entirely  restored  figure.  Two  palm-trees,  sparkling 
with  gold,  above  one  of  which  appears  the  emblem  of  eternity,  the  phoenix,  with 
a  star-shaped  nimbus,  close  the  composition  on  each  side.  Farther  below, 
indicated  by  water-plants,  sparkling  also  with  gold,  is  the  river  Jordan.  The 
figure  of  Christ  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  marvellous  specimens  of  the 
art  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Countenance,  attitude,  and  drapery  combine  to  give 
Him  an  expression  of  quiet  majesty,  which,  for  many  centuries  after,  is  not 
found  again  in  equal  beauty  and  freedom.  The  drapery,  especially,  is  disposed 
in  noble  folds,  and  only  in  its  somewhat  too  ornate  details  is  a  further  departure 
from  the  antique  ob,servable.  The  saints  are  not  as  yet  arranged  in  stiff  parallel 
forms,  hut  are  advancing  forward,  so  that  their  figures  appear  somewhat 
distorted,  while  we  already  remark  something  constrained  and  inanimate  in 
their  step.  The  apostles  Peter  and  Paul  wear  the  usual  ideal  costume.  SS. 
Cosmo  and  Damiano  are  attired  in  the  late  Roman  dress  :  violet  mantles,  in 
gold  stuff,  with  red  embroideries  of  oriental  barbaric  effect.  Otherwise  the  chief 
motives  of  the  drapery  are  of  great  beauty,  though  somewhat  too  abundant  in 
folds.  The  high  lights  are  brought  out  by  gold  and  other  sparkling  materials, 
producing  a  gorgeous  play  of  colour  which  relieves  the  figures  vigorously  from 

1  See  Percy's  'Romanism.' 


142  Walks  in  Rome 

the  dark-blue  backgrouml.  AltoKcther  a  feeling  for  colour  is  here  displayed, 
of  which  no  later  mosaics  with  };old  grounds  give  any  idea.  The  heads,  with  the 
exception  of  the  principal  figure,  are  animated  and  individual,  though  without 
any  particular  depth  of  expression  ;  somewhat  elderly,  also,  in  physiognomy, 
but  still  far  removed  from  any  Byzantine  stiftness  ;  S.  Peter  has  already  the  bald 
head  and  S.  Paul  the  shoit  brown  hair  and  dark  beard,  by  which  they  were 
afterwards  recognisable.i  Under  this  chief  composition,  on  a  gold  ground,  is 
seen  the  Lamb  upon  a  hill,  with  the  four  rivers  of  Paradise,  and  the  twelve 
sheep  on  either  hand.  The  great  care  of  execution  is  seen  in  the  five  or  six 
gradations  of  tints  which  the  artist  has  adopted.'— Kur/ler. 

SS.  Cosmo  and  Damian,  to  whom  this  church  is  dedicated,  the 
Aesculapii  of  Christianity,  were  two  Arabian  physicians  who  exer- 
cised their  art  from  cliarity.  They  suffered  under  Diocletian. 
'  First  they  were  thrown  into  the  sea,  but  an  angel  saved  them  ; 
and  then  into  the  fire,  but  the  fire  refused  to  burn  them  ;  then  they 
were  bound  to  crosses  and  stoned,  but  the  stones  either  fell  harm- 
less or  rebounded  on  their  executioners  and  killed  them  ;  so  then 
the  proconsul  Lycias,  believing  them  to  be  sorcerers,  commanded 
that  they  should  be  beheaded,  and  thus  they  died.'  SS.  Cosmo 
and  Damian  were  the  patron  saints  of  the  Medici,  and  their  gilt 
statues  were  carried  in  state  at  the  coronation  of  Leo  X.  (Giovanni 
de'  Medici).  Their  fame  is  general  in  many  parts  of  France,  where 
their  fete  is  celebrated  by  a  village  fair— children  who  ask  for  their 
fairing  of  a  toy  or  ginger-bread  calling  it  their  'S.  Come.' 

'  It  is  related  that  a  certain  man,  who  was  afflicted  with  a  cancer  in  his  leg, 
went  to  perforin  his  devotions  in  the  church  of  SS.  Cosmo  and  Damian  at  Rome, 
and  he  prayed  most  earnestly  that  these  beneficent  saints  would  be  pleased  to 
aid  him.  When  he  had  prayed,  a  deep  sleep  fell  upon  him.  Then  he  beheld 
S.  Cosmo  and  S.  Damian,  who  stood  beside  him ;  and  one  carried  a  box  of 
ointments,  and  the  other  a  sharp  knife.  And  one  said,  "What  shall  we  do  to 
replace  this  diseased  leg  when  we  have  cut  it  off  ? "  And  the  other  replied, 
"  There  is  a  Moor  who  has  been  buried  just  now  at  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli ;  let  us 
take  his  leg  for  the  purpose."  So  they  brought  the  leg  of  the  dead  man,  and 
with  it  they  replaced  the  leg  of  the  sick  man  ;  anointing  it  with  celestial 
ointment,  so  that  he  remained  whole.  When  he  awoke  he  almost  doubted 
whether  it  could  be  himself ;  but  his  neighbours,  seeing  that  he  was  healed, 
looked  into  the  tomb  of  the  Mooi',  and  found  that  there  had  been  an  exchange 
of  legs  :  and  thus  the  truth  of  this  great  miracle  was  proved  to  all  beholders.'— 
Mrs.  Jameson,  from  the  '  Ler/enda  Attrea.' 

Just  beyond  the  basilica  of  Constantine  stands  the  Church  of  S. 
Francesca  Romana,  which  is  full  of  interest.  Its  beautiful  thir- 
teenth-century tower  is  ornamented  with  the  discs  of  enamelled 
pottery  called  ciotole,  which  were  the  forerunners  of  majolica.  The 
church  was  first  built  by  S.  Sylvester  on  the  site  of  the  Temple  of 
Venus  and  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  under  the  title  of  S.  Maria 
Nuova.  It  was  rebuilt  in  A.D.  872  by  John  VIII.,  who  resided  in 
the  adjoining  monastery  during  his  pontificate.  An  ancient  picture 
attributed  to  S.   Luke,  brought  from  Troy  in  1100,  was  the  only 

1  There  is  no  aureole  round  the  heads  of  the  saints.  This  emblem  of  glory, 
which  belonged  to  Apollo  and  the  deified  emperors,  was  not  bestowed  upon  the 
martyrs  of  the  Catacombs  till  the  time  of  Constantine,  and  had  not  yet  become 
universal. 


S.  Francesca  Romana  143 

object  in  this  church  which  was  preserved  when  the  building  was 
totally  destroyed  by  fire  in  1216,  after  which  the  church  was 
restored  by  Honorius  III.  During  the  restoration  the  picture  was 
kept  at  S.  Adriano,  and  its  being  brought  back  led  to  a  contest 
among  the  people,  which  was  ended  by  a  child  exclaiming,  '  What 
are  you  doing  ?  the  Madonna  is  already  in  her  own  church.'  She 
had  betaken  herself  thither  none  knew  how. 

In  the  twelfth  century  the  church  was  given  to  the  Lateran 
Canons,  in  the  fourteenth  to  the  Olivetan  monks ;  under  Eugenius  IV. 
the  latter  extended  their  boundaries  so  far  that  they  included  the 
Coliseum,  but  their  walls  were  forced  down  in  the  succeeding  ponti- 
ficate. Gregory  XI.,  Paul  II.,  and  Caesar  Borgia  were  cardinals  of  S. 
Maria  Novella.  In  1440  the  name  was  changed  to  that  of  S.  Francesca 
Romana,  when  that  saint,  Francesca  de'  Ponziani,  foundress  of  the 
Order  of  Oblates,  was  buried  here.  Her  tomb  was  erected  in  1G40 
by  Donna  Agata  Pamfili,  sister  of  Innocent  X.,  herself  an  Oblate. 
It  is  from  the  designs  of  Bernini,  and  is  rich  in  marbles.  The 
figure  was  not  added  till  1868. 

'  After  the  death  of  Francesca,  her  body  remained  during  a  night  and  a  day  at 
the  Ponziani  Palace,  the  Oblates  watching  by  turns  over  the  beloved  remains. 
.  .  .  Francesca's  face,  which  had  recently  borne  traces  of  age  and  suffering, 
became  as  beautiful  again  as  in  the  days  of  youth  and  prosperity;  and  the 
astonished  bystanders  gazed  with  wonder  and  awe  at  her  unearthly  loveliness. 
Many  of  them  carried  away  particles  from  her  clothes,  and  employed  theiu  for 
the  cure  of  several  persons  who  had  been  considered  beyond  the  possibility 
of  recovery.  In  the  course  of  the  day  the  crowd  augmented  to  a  degree  which 
alarmed  the  inhabitants  of  the  palace.  Battista  Ponziani  took  measures  to  have 
the  body  removed  at  once  to  the  church,  and  a  procession  of  the  regular  and 
secular  clergy  escorted  the  venerated  remains  to  Santa  Maria  Nuova,  where  they 
were  to  be  interred. 

'  The  popular  feeling  burst  forth  on  the  occasion ;  it  was  no  longer  to  be 
restrained.  Francesca  was  invoked  by  the  crowd,  and  her  beloved  name  was 
heard  in  every  street,  in  every  piazza,  in  every  corner  of  the  Eternal  City.  It 
flew  from  mouth  to  mouth,  it  seemed  to  float  in  the  air,  to  be  borne  aloft  by 
the  grateful  enthusiasm  of  a  whole  people,  who  had  seen  her  walk  to  that 
church  by  her  mother's  side  in  her  holy  childhood  ;  who  had  seen  her  kneel 
at  that  altar  in  the  grave  beauty  of  womanhood,  in  the  hour  of  bereavement, 
and  now  in  death  carried  thither  in  state,  she  the  gentle,  the  humble  saint  of 
Rome,  the  poor  woman  of  the  Trastevere,  as  she  was  sometimes  called  at  her 
own  desire.' — Lady  G.  FuUerton's  'Life  of  S.  Francesca  Romana.' 

A  chapel  on  the  right  of  the  church  contains  the  monument  of 
Cardinal  Vulcani,  1322,  supporting  his  figure,  with  Faith,  Hope, 
and  Charity  sculptured  in  high  relief  below.  Near  the  door  is  the 
tomb  of  Cardinal  Adimari,  1432,  who  died  here  after  an  ineffectual 
mission  to  the  anti-pope  Pedro  da  Luna.  In  the  left  transept 
was  a  fine  Perugino  (removed  1867) ;  in  the  right  transept  is  the 
tomb  of  Pope  Gregory  XI.,  the  last  Frenchman  who  occupied  the 
papal  throne,  by  Pietro  Paolo  Olivieri,  erected  by  the  Senate  in 
1584  in  gratitude  for  his  having  restored  the  papal  court  to  Rome 
from  Avignon.  A  bas-relief  represents  his  triumphal  entry,  with 
S.  Catherine  of  Siena,  by  whose  entreaties  he  was  induced  to  return, 
walking  before  his  mule.  A  breach  in  the  walls  indicates  the  ruin- 
ous state  into  which  Rome  had  fallen  ;  the  chair  of  S.  Peter  is 


144  Walks  in  Rome 

represented  as  floating  back  through  the  air,  while  an  angel  carries 
the  papal  tiara  and  keys  ;  a  metaphorical  figure  of  Rome  is  coming 
forth  to  welcome  the  Pope. 

'  The  greatest  part  of  the  pi-aise  due  to  Gregory's  return  to  Rome  belongs  to 
S.  Catherine  of  Siena,  who,  with  infinite  courage,  travelled  to  Avignon,  and 
porsnadtd  the  Pope  to  return,  and  by  his  presence  to  dispel  the  evils  which 
(list;i:iit  il  Italy,  in  conseciuence  of  the  absence  of  the  Popes.  Thus  it  is  not  to 
be  wonckiL'd  at  that  those  writers  who  rightly  understand  the  matter  should 
have  said  that  Catherine,  the  virgin  of  Siena,  brought  back  to  God  the  abandoned 
apostolical  chair  upon  her  shouXdera.'—UgheUi,  Ital.  Sacra,  vi.  col.  45. 

Near  Pope  Gregory's  tomb  some  blackened  marks  in  the  wall  are 
shown  as  holes  made  by  the  (gigantic)  knees  of  S.  Peter,  when  he 
knelt  to  pray  that  Simon  Magus  might  be  dropjaed  by  the  demons 
he  had  invoked  to  support  him  in  the  air,  which  he  is  said  to  have 
done  to  show  his  power  on  this  spot.  Removed  also  to  the  church 
is  a  paving-stone  of  which  ^he  same  story  is  told.  The  water  which 
collected  in  the  two  holes  was  looked  upon  as  an  important  remedy, 
and  when  it  lay  in  the  road,  groups  of  infirm  persons  gathered 
around  it  on  the  approach  of  a  shower. 

'  When  the  error  of  Simon  was  spreading  farther  and  farther,  the  illustrious 
pair  of  men,  Peter  and  Paul,  the  rulers  of  the  Church,  arrested  it  by  golnt; 
thither,  who  suddenly  exhibited  as  dead,  Simon,  the  putative  God,  on  his 
appearance.  For  when  Simon  declared  that  he  would  ascend  aloft  into  heaven, 
the  servants  of  God  cast  him  headlong  to  the  earth,  and  though  this  occurrence 
was  wonderful  in  itself,  it  was  not  wonderful  luider  the  circumstances,  for  it  was 
Peter  who  did  it.  he  who  Ijears  with  him  the  keys  of  heaven  ...  it  was  Paul  who 
did  it,  he  who  was  caught  up  into  the  third  heaven.' — S.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem. 

'  Simon  promised  to  fly,  and  thus  ascend  to  the  heavenly  abodes.  On  the  day 
agreed  upon,  he  went  to  the  Capitoline  hill,  and  throwing  himself  from  the  rock, 
began  his  ascent.  Then  Peter,  standing  in  the  midst,  said,  "  0  Lord  .Jesus,  show 
him  that  his  arts  are  in  vain."  Hardly  had  the  words  been  uttered,  when  the 
wings  which  Simon  had  made  use  of  became  entangled,  and  he  fell.  His  thigh 
was  fractured,  never  to  be  healed  ;  and  some  time  afterwards  the  unhappy  man 
died  at  Aretia,  whither  he  had  retired  after  his  discomfiture.' — S.  Ambrose.^ 

'There  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  existed  in  the  first  century  a  Simon,  a 
Samaritan,  a  pretender  to  divine  authority  and  supernatural  powers  ;  who,  for  a 
time,  had  many  followers  ;  who  stood  in  a  certain  relation  to  Christianity  ;  and 
who  may  have  held  some  opinions  more  or  less  similar  to  tliose  entertained  by 
the  most  famous  heretics  of  the  early  ages,  the  Gnostics.  Irenaeus  calls  this 
Simon  the  father  of  all  heretics.  "All  those,"  he  says,  "who  in  any  way  cor- 
rupt the  truth  or  mar  the  preaching  of  the  Church,  are  disciples  and  successors 
of  Simon,  the  Samaritan  magician."  Simon  gave  himself  forth  as  a  God,  and 
carried  al)out  with  him  a  beautiful  woman  named  Helena,  whom  he  represented 
as  the  first  conception  of  his— that  is,  of  the  divine — mind,  the  symbol  and 
manifestation  of  that  portion  of  spirituality  which  had  become  entangled  in 
matter.' — Jameson's  'Sacred  Art,'  p.  204. 

The  vault  of  the  tribune  is  covered  with  mosaics. 

'The  restored  tribune  mosaics  (A.r>.  858-87,  during  the  pontificate  of  Nicholas 
I.)  close  the  list  of  Roman  Byzantine  works.  By  their  time  it  had  become 
apparent  that  such  figures  as  the  art  of  the  day  was  alone  able  to  achieve  could 
have  no  possible  relation  to  each  other,  and  therefore  no  longer  constitute  a 

1  See  the  whole  question  of  Simon  Magus  discussed  in  Waterworth's  '  England 
and  Rome. 


Temple  of  Venus  and  Rome  145 

composition  ;  the  artists  accordingly  separated  the  Madonna  on  the  throne,  and 
the  four  saints  with  uplifted  hands,  by  graceful  arcades.  The  ground  is  gold, 
the  nimbuses  blue.  The  faces  cunsist  only  of  feeble  lines— the  cheeks  are  only 
red  blotches  ;  the  folds  merely  dark  strokes  ;  nevertheless  a  certain  How  and 
fulness  in  the  forms,  and  the  cliaracter  of  a  few  accessories  (for  instance,  the 
exchange  of  a  crown  upon  the  Virgin's  head  for  the  invariable  Byzantine  veil), 
seem  to  indicate  that  we  have  not  so  much  to  do  here  with  the  decline  of 
Byzantine  art,  as  with  a  Northern  antl  probably  Frankish  influence.' — Kuyler. 

In  the  1st  chapel  (left)  is  a  Madonna  with  saints  by  Sinibaldo 
Ibi,  152-1. 

The  convent  attached  to  this  church  was  the  abode  of  Tasso 
during  his  first  visit  to  Rome. 

S.  Francesca  Romana  stands  on  some  of  the  substructions  of  the 
Golden  House  of  Nero,  which  he  did  not  hesitate  to  build  across 
the  Via  Sacra,  and  of  which  the  Coliseum  only  occupies  the  site 
of  the  fishponds.  Hadrian,  with  the  idea  of  giving  back  to  the 
people  what  Nero  had  taken  away,  built,  a  beautiful  temple  on 
the  substructions  of  the  palace,  the  Temple  of  Venus  and  Rome 
(Venus  Felix  and  Roma  Aeterna),  (now  sometimes  called  by  objec- 
tors the  'Portico  of  Livia'),  which,  if  this  name  is  the  correct  one, 
was  originally  planned  by  the  Emperor  Hadrian  to  rival  the  Forum 
of  Trajan,  erected  by  the  architect  Apollodorus,  and  fini:^hed  by 
Antoninus  Pius.  It  was  built  upon  a  site  previously  occupied  by 
the  atrium  of  Nero's  Golden  House.  Little  remains  standing  of 
this,  the  largest  of  all  the  temples  in  Rome,  except  a  cella  facing 
the  Coliseum,  and  another  in  the  cloisters  of  the  adjoining  convent 
(these,  perhaps,  being  restorations  by  Maxentius,  c.  307,  after  a  fire 
had  destroyed  most  of  the  building  of  Hadrian),  but  the  surround- 
ing grassy  height  is  positively  littered  with  fragments  of  the  grey 
granite  columns  which  once  formed  the  grand  portico  (400  by  200 
feet),  or  jieribolus,  of  the  building  :  some  marble  steps  near  S.  Fran- 
cesca Romana  mark  its  fa9ade  towards  the  Forum.  The  pedestals 
partly  exist  which  supported  colossal  statues  of  Venus  and  Rome  in 
the  apses.  A  large  mass  of  Corinthian  cornice  remains  near  the 
cella  facing  the  Coliseum.  This  was  the  last  pagan  temple  which 
remained  in  use  in  Rome.  It  was  only  closed  by  Theodosius  in 
391,  and  remained  entiro  till  625,  when  Pope  Honorius  carried  off 
the  bronze  tiles  of  its  roof  to  S.  Peter's. 

'  Ac  sacram  resonare  viam  mugitibus,  ante 
Delubrum  Romae  ;  colittu'  nam  sanguine  et  ipsa 
More  deae,  nomenque  loci,  ceu  numen,  habetur. 
Atque  Urbis  Venerisque  pari  se  culmine  tollunt 
Templa,  simul  geminis  adolentur  thura  deabus.' 

— Prudentius  contr.  Symm.  v.  214. 

'  When  about  to  construct  his  magnificent  Temple  of  Venus  and  Rome,  Hadrian 
produced  a  design  of  his  own  and  showed  it  with  proud  satisfaction  to  the  archi- 
tect Apollodorus.  The  creator  of  the  Trajan  column  remarked  with  a  sneer, 
that  the  deities,  if  they  rose  from  their  seats,  must  thrust  their  heads  through 
the  ceiling.  The  Emperor,  we  are  assured,  could  not  forgive  this  banter  ;  but 
we  can  hardly  take  to  the  letter  the  statement  that  he  put  his  critic  to  death 
for  it.'— iletivale,  ch.  Ixvi. 

VOL.  I.  K 


146  Walks  in  Rome 

In  front  of  this  temple  stood  the  bronze  statue  of  Cloelia,  mentioned 
by  Livyand  Seneca,  and  (till  the  sixth  century)  the  bronze  elephants 
mentioned  by  Cassiodorus.  Nearer  the  Coliseum  may  still  be  seen 
the  remains  "of  the  foundation  prepared  by  Hadrian  for  the  Colossal 
Statue  of  Nero,  executed  in  bronze  by  Zenodorus.  This  statue  was 
twice  moved,  lirst  by  Vespasian,  in  A.u.  75,  that  it  might  face  the 
chief  entrance  of  his  amphitheatre,^  whose  plan  had  been  already 
laid  out.  At  the  same  time — though  it  was  a  striking  likeness  of 
Nero — its  head  was  surrounded  with  rays  that  it  might  represent 
Apollo.     In  its  second  position  it  is  described  by  Martial  : 

'  Hie  ubi  sidereus  propius  videt  astra  colossus 

Et  crescunt  media  pegmata  celsa  via, 
Invidiosa  feri  radiabant  atria  regis, 
Unaque  jam  tota  stabat  in  urbe  domus.' 

-De  Sped.  ii. 

It  was  again  moved  (with  the  aid  of  forty-two  elephants)  a  few 
yards  farther  north,  by  Hadrian,  when  he  built  his  Temple  of  Venus 
and  Rome.  Pliny  describes  the  colossus  as  110,  Dion  Cassius  as  100 
feet  high. 

'  Hadrian  employed  an  architect  named  Decrianus  to  remove  the  colossus  of 
Kero,  the  face  of  which  had  been  altered  into  a  Sol.  He  does  not  seem  to  have 
accomplished  the  design  of  Apollodorus  to  erect  a  companion  statue  of  Luna.' — 
Merivale,  ch.  Ixvi. 

Near  the  church  of  S.  Francesca,  the  Via  Sacra  passes  under  the 
Arch  of  Titus,  which,  even  in  its  restored  condition,  is  the  most 
beautiful  monument  of  the  kind  remaining  in  Rome.  Its  Christian 
interest  is  unrivalled,  from  its  having  been  erected  by  the  senate  to 
commemorate  the  taking  of  Jerusalem,  and  from  its  bas-reliefs  of 
the  seven-branched  candlestick  and  other  treasures  of  the  Jewish 
Temple.  In  mediaeval  times  it  was  called  the  Arch  of  the  Seven 
Candlesticks  (Septem  lucernarum)  from  the  bas-relief  of  the  candle- 
stick, concerning  which  Gregorovius  remarks  that  the  fantastic 
figures  carved  upon  it  prove  that  it  was  not  an  exact  likeness  of 
that  which  came  from  Jerusalem.  The  bas-reliefs  are  now  greatly 
mutilated,  but  they  are  shown  in  their  perfect  state  in  a  drawing  of 
Giuliano  di  Sangallo.  On  the  frieze  is  the  sacred  river  Jordan,  as 
an  aged  man,  borne  on  a  bier.  The  arch  was  engrafted  into  the 
fortress  of  the  Frangipani,  and  so  it  remained,  in  a  very  ruinous 
condition,  till  the  present  century.  Close  by,  on  the  side  towards 
the  Palatine,  was  the  Turris  Chartularia,  to  which,  for  the  sake  of 
security,  the  remains  of  the  library  and  archives  of  Pope  Damasus 
and  other  precious  MSS.  were  removed  from  the  Lateran  in  the 
X.  c.^     The  tower  originally  formed  the  entrance  to  the  vast  for- 


1  Dion  Cassius,  Ixvi.  15. 

-  Not  a  trace  of  these  collections  now  remains  ;  it  is  supposed  that  they  were 
destroyed  by  the  imperial  faction  in  1244,  out  of  spite  and  revenge  towards  the 
Pope  and  his  faithful  supxjorters,  the  Frangipani. 


Arch  of  Titus  147 

tress  of  the  powerful  Frangipani  family,  which  includerl  the 
Coliseum  and  a  great  part  of  the  Palatine  and  Coelian  hills  ;  and 
here,  above  the  gate,  Pope  Urban  II.  dwelt  in  1093,  under  the 
protection  of  Giovanni  Frangipani.  The  arch  was  repaiied  by 
Pius  VII.,  who  replaced  in  travertine  the  lost  marble  portions  at 
the  top  and  sides.  The  composite  capitals  here  are  the  earliest 
examples  known. 

'Standnig  beneath  the  Arch  of  Titus,  and  amid  so  nmc.h  ancient  (hist,  it  is 
difficult  to  forbear  theconimonplaces  of  enthusiasm,  on  which  huncheds  of  tourists 
have  ah'eady  insisted.  Over  the  half-worn  pavement  and  beneath  this  arch,  the 
Boman  armies  had  trodden  in  their  outward  march,  to  fight  liattles  a  world's 
width  away.  Returning  victorious,  with  royal  captives  and  inestimable  spoil, 
a  Roman  triumph,  that  most  gorgeous  pageant  of  earthly  pride,  has  streanieil 
and  flaunted  in  hundredfold  succession  over  these  same  flagstones,  and  through 
this  yet  stalwart  archway.  It  is  politic,  however,  to  make  few  allusions  to  such 
a  past ;  uor  is  it  wise  to  suggest  how  Cicero's  feet  may  have  stepped  on  yonder 
stone,  or  how  Horace  was  wont  to  stroll  near  by,  making  his  footsteps  chime 
with  the  measure  of  the  ode  that  was  ringing  in  his  mind.  The  very  ghosts  of 
that  massive  and  stately  epoch  have  so  much  density,  that  the  people  of  to-day 
seem  the  thinner  of  the  two,  and  stand  more  ghostlike  by  the  arches  and  columns, 
letting  the  rich  sculpture  be  discerned  through  their  ill-compacted  substance.'— 
Haivthonie. 

'  We  passed  on  to  the  Arch  of  Titus.  Amongst  the  reliefs  there  is  a  figure  of  a 
man  bearing  the  golden  candlestick  from  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  as  one  of  the 
spoils  of  the  triumph.  Yet  He  who  abandoned  His  visible  and  local  temple  to  the 
hands  of  the  heathen  for  the  sins  of  His  nominal  worshippers,  has  taken  to  Him 
His  great  power,  and  has  gotten  Him  glory  by  destroying  the  idols  of  Rome  as 
He  had  done  the  idols  of  Babylon  ;  and  the  golden  candlestick  burns  and  shall 
burn  with  an  everlasting  liglit,  while  the  enemies  of  His  holy  name,  Babylon, 
Rome,  or  the  carcass  of  sin  in  every  land,  which  the  eagles  of  His  wrath  will 
surely  find  out,  perish  for  ever  from  before  Him.' — Arnold's  Journal. 

'  The  Jewish  trophies  are  sculptured  in  bas-relief  on  the  inside  of  the  arch 
beneath  the  vaulting.  Opposite  to  these  is  another  bas-relief  representing 
Titus  in  the  quadriga,  the  reins  borne  by  the  goddess  Roma.  In  the  centre 
of  the  arch  Titus  is  borne  to  heaven  by  an  eagle.  It  may  be  conjectured  that  these 
ornaments  to  his  glory  were  designed  after  the  death  of  Vespasian,  and  com- 
pleted after  his  own.  .  .  .  These  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  history  are  scanned  at 
this  day  by  Christians  passing  to  and  fro  between  the  Coliseum  and  the  Forum  ; 
and  at  this  day  the  Jew  refuses  to  walk  beneath  them,  and  creeps  stealthily  by 
the  side,  with  downcast  eyes  or  countenance  SL\evted.'—Mervvale,  '  Jioinans  under 
the  Eminre,'  vii.  250. 

'  On  the  inner  compartment  of  the  Arch  of  Titus  is  sculptured,  in  deep  relief, 
the  desolation  of  a  city.  On  one  side,  the  walls  of  the  Temple,  split  by  the  fury 
of  conflagrations,  hang  tottering  in  the  act  of  ruin.  The  accompaniments  of  a 
town  taken  by  assault,  matrons  and  virgins  and  children  and  old  men  gathered 
into  groups,  and  the  rapine  and  licence  of  a  barbarous  and  enraged  soldiery  are 
imaged  in  the  distance.  The  foreground  is  occupied  by  a  procession  of  the 
victors,  bearing  in  their  profane  hands  the  holy  candlestick  and  the  table  of 
shewbread,  and  the  sacred  instruments  of  the  eternal  worship  of  the  Jews.  On 
the  opposite  side,  the  reverse  of  this  sad  picture,  Titils  is  represented  standing 
in  a  chariot  drawn  by  four  horses,  crowned  with  laurel  and  surrounded  by  the 
tumultuous  numbers  of  his  triumphant  army,  and  the  magistrates,  and  priests, 
and  generals,  and  philosophers,  dragged  in  chains  beside  his  wheels.  Behind 
him  stands  a  Victory  eagle-winged. 

'  The  arch  is  now  mouldering  into  ruins,  and  the  imagery  almost  erased  by  the 
lapse  of  fifty  generations.  .  .  .  The  Flavian  amphitheatre  has  lieconie  a  habita- 
tion for  owls.  The  power  of  whose  possession  it  was  once  the  type,  and  of  whose 
departure  it  is  now  the  emblem,  is  become  a  dream  and  a  memory.  Rome  is  no 
more  than  Jerusalem.'— /S/ieiiei/. 


148  Walks  in  Rome 

'  The  restoration  of  the  Arch  of  Titus  reflects  the  greatest  credit  on  the  com- 
mission appointed  by  Pius  VII.  for  tlie  restoiation  of  ancient  edifices.  This 
not  only  beautiful,  but  precious  monunuiit,  had  liecn  made  the  nucleus  of  a 
hideous,  castellated  fort  by  the  Fran','i])ani  family.  Its  masonry,  however, 
enilH'aced  and  held  together,  as  well  as  crushed,  the  marble  arch;  so  that  on 
freeing  it  from  its  rude  liuttresses  there  was  fear  of  its  collapsing,  and  it  had 
first  to  be  well  bound  together  by  props  and  bracing  beams,  a  process  in  which 
the  Roman  architects  are  uniivalled.  The  simple  expedient  was  then  adopted 
by  the  architect  Stern  of  coniiileting  the  arch  in  stone  ;  for  its  sides  had  been 
removed.  Thus  increased  in  solid  structure,  which  continued  all  the  archi- 
tectural lines  and  renewed  its  proportions  to  the  mutilated  centre,  the  arch 
was  both  completely  secured  and  almost  restored  to  its  pristine  elegance.' — 
Wiseman't; '  Life  of  Pius  VII.' 

The  procession  of  the  Popes  going  to  the  Lateran  for  their  solemn 
installation  used  to  halt  beside  the  Arch  of  Titus  while  a  Jew  pre- 
sented a  copy  of  the  Pentateuch,  with  a  humble  oath  of  fealty. 
This  humiliating  ceremony  was  omitted  for  the  first  time  at  the 
installation  of  Pius  IX. 

The  foundations  used  for  the  Turris  Chartularia  to  the  right,  just 
beyond  the  arch — blocks  of  peperino — were  probably  first  those 
of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Stator,  vowed  by  Romulus  after  his 
encounter  with  the  Sabines,  but  only  built  in  296  by  M.  Atilius 
Kegulus.  Its  position  here  is  seen  in  the  bas-relief  of  the  Haterii, 
now  in  the  Lateran  Museum. 

'  Inde  petens  dextram,  Porta  est,  ait,  ista  Palati ; 
Hie  Stator,  hoc  primiun  condita  Roma  loco  est.' 

—Ovid,  Trist.  iii.  El.  1.  31. 

'  Tempus  idem  Stator  aedis  habet,  quam  Romulus  olim 
Ante  Palatini  condidit  ora  jugi.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  vi.  793. 

The  temple  of  Jupiter  Stator,  which  was  burnt  in  the  great  fire 
under  Nero,  has  an  especial  interest  from  its  connection  with  the 
story  of  Cicero  and  Cataline. 

'  C'iceron  rassembla  le  senat  dans  le  temple  de  .Tupiter  Stator.  Le  choix  de  lieu 
s'explique  facilenient ;  ce  temple  etait  pres  de  la  principale  entree  du  Palatin, 
sur  le  V61ia,  dominant,  en  cas  d'emeute,  le  Forum,  que  Ciceron  et  les  principaux 
senateurs,  habitants  du  Palatin,  n'avaient  pas  a  traverser  comnie  s'il  ent  fallu  se 
rendre  a  la  Curie.  D'ailleurs,  Jupiter  Stator,  qui  avait  arrete  les  Sabines  ii  la 
porte  de  Romulus,  arreterait  ces  nouveaux  eimemis  qui  voulaient  sa  ruine.  Lii 
Ciceron  prononga  la  premiere  Catilinaire.  Ce  discours  eut  6,  etre  en  grande  partie 
improvise,  car  les  evenements  aussi  iniprovisaient.  Ciceron  ne  savait  si  Catilina 
oserait  se  presenter  devant  le  senat ;  en  le  voyant  entrer,  il  congut  son  fameux 
exorde  :  "  Jusqu'i  quand^  Catilina,  al)useras-tu  de  notre  patience  !  " 

'  Malgre  la  garde  volontaire  de  chevaliers  (|ui  avait  accompagne  Ciceron  et 
qui  se  tenait  a  la  porte  du  temple,  Catilina  y  entra  et  salua  tranquillement  I'as- 
sembl^e  ;  nul  ne  lui  rendit  son  saint,  a  son  approche  on  s'ecarta  et  les  places 
restferent  vides  autour  de  lui.  II  6couta  les  foudroyantes  apostrophes  de  Ciceron, 
qui,  apres  I'avoir  accabld  des  preuves  de  son  crime,  se  bornait  a  lui  dire  :  "  Sors 
de  Rome.     Va-t'en  ! " 

'  Catilina  se  leva  et  d'un  air  modeste  pria  le  senat  de  ne  pas  croire  le  consul 
avant  qu'une  enquete  eut  6te  faite.  "  II  n'est  pas  vraisemblable,"  ajouta-t-il, 
avec  une  hauteur  toute  aristocratique,  "qu'un  patricien,  lequel,  aussi  bien  que 
ses  ancetres,  a  rendu  quelques  services  a  la  republique,  ne  puisse  exister  que  par 


Church  of  S.  Buenaventura  149 

sa  ruine,  et  qu'on  ait  [besoin  d'un  stranger  d'Arpinum  pour  la  sauver."  Tant 
d'orgueil  et  d'impudence  r6volt6rent  I'assembl^e  ;  on  cria  i  Catilina  :  "  Tu  es  un 
ennemi  de  la  patrie,  un  nieurtrier."  II  sortit,  rcunit  encore  ses  amis,  leur  re- 
cominanda  de  se  debarrasser  de  Cic^ron,  prit  avec  lui  une  aigle  d'argent  qui 
avait  appartenu  a  une  legion  de  Marius,  et  k  niinuit  quitta  Rome  et  partit  par  la 
voie  Aur61ia  pour  aller  rejoindre  son  a,rmee.'— Ampere,  Hist.  Mom.  iv.  445. 


At  this  point  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  notice  two  other 
buildings,  which,  though  situated  on  the  Palatine,  are  totally  dis- 
connected with  the  other  objects  occupying  that  hill. 

A  lane  runs  up  to  the  right  from  the  Arch  of  Titus.  On  the  left 
is  a  gateway,  surmounted  by  a  faded  fresco  of  S.  Sebastian.  Here 
is  the  entrance  to  a  wild  and  beautiful  garden,  possessing  most 
lovely  views  of  the  various  ruins,  occupying  the  probable  site  of 
the  Gardens  of  Adonis,  and  at  one  time  included  in  the  Golden 
House  of  Nero.  This  garden  is  the  place  where  S.  Sebastian 
underwent  his  (so-called)  martyrdom,  and  will  call  to  mind  the 
many  fine  pictures  scattered  over  Europe  of  the  youthful  and  beau- 
tiful saint,  bound  to  a  tree  and  pierced  with  arrows.^  The  finest 
of  these  are  the  Domenichino  in  S.  Maria  degli  Angeli,  and  the 
Sodoma  at  Florence.  He  is  sometimes  represented  as  bound  to 
an  orange  tree,  and  sometimes,  as  in  the  Guido  at  Bologna,  to  a 
cypress,  like  those  we  still  see  on  this  spot.  Here  was  an  important 
fortified  Benedictine  convent,  where  Pope  Boniface  IV.  was  a 
monk  before  his  election  to  the  papacy,  and  where  the  famous 
abbots  of  Monte  Cassino  had  their  Eoman  residence.  Here,  in 
1118,  fifty-one  cardinals  took  refuge,  and  elected  Gelasius  II.  as 
Pope.  The  only  building  remaining  is  the  Church  of  S.  Maria 
Pallara  or  S.  Sebastiano,  mentioned  as  early  as  the  eleventh  century, 
but  restored  in  1(J36.  It  contains  some  curious  inscriptions  re- 
lating to  events  which  have  occurred  here,  and,  in  the  tribune, 
frescoes  of  the  Saviour  in  benediction  with  four  saints,  and  below, 
two  other  groups  representing  the  Virgin  with  saints  and  angels, 
placed,  as  we  learn  by  the  inscription  beneath,  by  one  Benedict — 
probably  an  abbot.  The  name  Pallara  is  probably  derived  from  an 
ancient  '  palladium  palatinum '  mentioned  in  an  inscription  of  the 
time  of  Constantine.'^ 

Farther  up  the  lane,  passing  (left)  what  many  believe  to  have 
been  the  site  of  the  Temple  of  Apollo,  built  by  Augustus  (ch.  vi.), 
a  '  Via  Crucis '  leads  to  the  Church  of  S.  Buenaventura,  '  the 
seraphic  doctor'  (Cardinal  and  Bishop  of  Albano,  ob.  July  14, 1274), 
who  in  childhood  was  raised  from  the  point  of  death  (1221)  by  the 
prayers  of  S.  Francis,  who  was  so  surprised  when  he  came  to  life, 
that    he    involuntarily  exclaimed   'O  buona   ventura '— (' what    a 


1  The  Acts  of  Sebastian,  of  the  fifth  century,  say  that  the  saint  suffered  in 
hippodromo  palatii,  and  this  was  the  name  given  to  the  existing  garden  from 
the  fall  of  the  Empire  to  the  tenth  century,  after  which  it  was  applied  to  the 
Stadium. 

2  See  De  Rossi,  '  Bull,  de  Arch.  Christ;  1867. 


150  Walks  in  Rome 

happy  chance') — whence  the  name  by  which  the  saint  was  after- 
wards known.  1 

The  little  church  contains  several  good  modern  monuments. 
Beneath  the  altar  is  shown  the  body  of  the  Blessed  Leonardo  of 
Porto-Maurizio  (d.  1751),  who  arranged  the  recently  destroyed  Via 
Crucis  in  the  Coliseum,  and  who  is  much  revered  by  the  ultra- 
Romanists  for  having  prophesied  the  proclamation  of  the  dogma 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  The  crucifix  and  the  picture  of 
the  Madonna  which  he  carried  with  him  in  his  missions  are  pre- 
served in  niches  on  either  side  of  the  tribune,  and  many  other 
relics  of  him  are  shown  in  his  cell  in  the  adjoining  convent  of 
Minor  Franciscans.  Entered  through  the  convent  is  a  lovely  little 
garden,  whence  there  is  a  grand  view  of  the  Coliseum,  and  where  a 
little  fountain  is  shaded  by  two  tall  palm  trees.  The  monks  made 
their  refectory  in  the  reservoir  for  storing  the  water  of  the  Aqua 
Claudia,  which  Severus  bro'jght  by  an  aqueduct  to  the  Palatine. 

'  Oswald  se  rendit  ati  eouvent  de  Bonaventure,  bail  sur  les  ruines  du  palais  de 
N6ron  :  lii,  oii  tant  de  crimes  se  soiit  commis  sans  remords,  de  pauvres  moines, 
touriiientes  par  des  scrupules  de  conscience,  s'iniposent  des  supplices  cruels  pour 
les  plus  leaeres  fautes.  "  iV^OM.s  espcrons  seulement,"  disait  un  de  ces  religieux, 
"(pill  ringtant  de  la  mortnos  pcches  n'auront  pas  excede  nos imiitences."  Lord 
Nelvil,  en  entrant  dans  ce  convent,  heurta  contre  une  trappe,  et  il  en  demanda 
1  usa^'e.  "C'estpar  la  qu'on  7ioits  enterre,"  dii  I'un  des  plus  jeunes  religieux, 
que  la  maladie  du  mauvais  air  avait  dejk  frapp6.  Les  habitants  du  Midi 
craignant  l)eaucoup  la  mort.  Ton  s'^tonne  d'y  trouver  des  institutions  qui  la 
rappellent  a  ce  point ;  mais  il  est  dans  la  nature  d'aimer  k  se  livrer  a  I'id^e 
ni(-me  que  Ton  redoute.  II  y  a  conime  un  enivrement  de  tristesse,  qui  fait  k 
I'ame  le  bien  de  la  remplir  tout  entifere.  Un  antique  sarcophage  dun  jeune 
enfant  sert  de  fontaine  k  ce  eouvent.  Le  beau  palmier  dont  Rome  se  vante  est 
le  seul  arbre  du  jardin  de  ces  moines.' — Madame  de  Sta'cl,  '  Corimfie.' 

The  Arch  of  Titus  is  spoken  of  as  being  '  in  summa  Via  Sacra,'  as 
the  street  was  called  which  led  from  the  southern  gate  of  Rome 
to  the  Capitol,  and  by  which  the  victorious  generals  passed  in  their 
triumphant  processions  to  the  Temple  of  Jupiter.  Between  the 
Aixh  of  Titus  and  the  Coliseum,  the  ancient  pavement  of  this 
famous  road,  composed  of  huge  polygonal  blocks  of  lava,  was 
allowed  to  remain  till  1879.  Here  we  may  imagine  Horace  taking 
his  favourite  walk  : 

'  Ibam  forte  Via  Sacra,  sicut  meus  est  mos, 
Nescio  quid  meditans  nugarum,  totus  in  illis.' 

—Sat.  i.  9. 

It  appears  to  have  been  the  favourite  resort  of  the  flaneurs  of 
the  day  : 

'  Videsne,  Sacram  metiente  te  Viam 

Cum  bis  trium  ulnarum  toga, 
Ut  era  vertat  hue  et  hue  euntium 
Liberrima  indignatio  ?'  — Horace,  Epod.  i. 


>  S.  Buonaventura  is  perhaps  best  known  to  the  existing  Christian  world  as 
the  author  of  the  beautiful  hymn,  '  Recordare  sanctae  crucis.' 


Arch  of  Constantine  151 

The  Via  Sacra  was  originally  bordered  with  shops.  Ovid  alludes 
frequently  to  the  purchases  which  might  be  made  there  in  his 
time.  In  this  especial  part  of  the  Via  was  the  market  for  fruit 
and  honey : i 

'  Dum  bene  dives  ager,  dum  rami  pondere  nutaiit ; 

Adferat  in  calatlio  ruatica  dona  puer. 

Rule  suburbano  poteris  tibi  dicere  missa, 

Ilia  vel  in  Sacra  sint  licet  empta  Via.' 

—Ovid,  Art.  Ama7i.  ii.  263. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  first  chapel  of  the  Christian  emperors 
stood  amongst  the  buildings  sometimes  called  the  Baths  of  Helio- 
gabalus,  on  the  right  of  the  descent  of  the  Via  Sacra,  from  the 
Arch  of  Titus  to  the  Coliseum.  It  was  called  Ecclesia  S.  Cesarii 
in  Palatio,  and  is  first  mentioned  in.  603.  From  an  association  with 
the  name  Caesar,  it  was  dedicated  to  Caesarius,  an  African  saint, 
martyred  at  Terracina.  The  images  of  the  Byzantine  emperors 
were  preserved  here  under  the  care  of  Greek  monks.  The  ruined 
chambers  under  the  cliffs  of  the  Palatine  belong  to  the  palace  of 
Nero.^ 

At  the  foot  of  the  hill  are  the  remains  of  the  basin  and  the 
brick  cone  of  a  fountain  called  Meta  Sudans,  erected  or  restored 
by  Domitian  for  those  who  came  to  the  spectacles  of  the  Coliseum, 
to  drink  at.-*  The  round  basin  only  dates  from  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine. Seneca,  who  lived  in  this  neighbourhood,  complains'*  of 
the  noise  which  was  made  by  a  showman  who  blew  his  trumpet 
close  to  this  fountain. 

On  the  right,  the  Via  Triumphalis  leads  to  the  Via  Appia,  pass- 
ing under  the  Arch  of  Constantine.  The  lower  bas-reliefs  upon 
the  arch,  which  are  crude  and  ill-designed,  refer  to  the  deeds  of 
Constantine ;  but  the  upper,  of  fine  workmanship,  illustrate  the 
life  of  Trajan,  which  has  led  some  to  imagine  that  the  arch  was 
originally  erected  in  honour  of  Trajan,  and  afterwards  appropriated 
by  Constantine.  They  were,  however,  removed  from  an  arch  of 
Trajan — 'arcus  divi  Trajani' — on  the  Via  Nova  (whose  ruins  existed 
in  1430  ^),  and  were  appropriated  by  Constantine  for  his  own  arch. 

'  Constantin  a  enlev6  &  un  arc  de  triomphe  de  Trajan  les  statues  de  prisonniers 
daces  que  I'on  voit  au  sommet  du  sien.  Ce  vol  a  6t6  puni  an  seizieme  siecle,  car, 
dans  ce  qui  semble  un  acc6s  de  folic,  Lorenzino,  le  bizarre  assassin  d'Alexandre 
de  Medicis,  a  d^capite  toutes  les  statues  qui  surmontaient  I'arche  Constantin, 
raoins  une,  la  seule  dont  la  tete  soit  antique.  Heureusement  on  a  dans  les 
musees,  a  Rome  et  ailleurs,  bon  nombre  de  ces  statues  de  captifs  barbares  avec  le 
meme  costume,  c'est-^-dire  le  pantalon  et  le  bonnet,  souvent  les  mains  liiSes,  dans 
une  attitude  de  soumission  morne,  quelquefois  avec  une  expression  de  sombre 
fiert^  ;  car  I'art  remain  avait  la  noblesse  de  ne  pas  humilier  les  vaincus  ;  il  ne  les 
representait  point  k  genoux,  f oul6s  aux  pieds  par  leurs  vainqueurs  ;  on  ne  donnait 


1  Varro,  Be  R.  Hust.  i.  2,  and  iii.  16. 

2  The  Palace  of  Nero  is  described  in  Tac.  Ann.  xv.  42,  and  Suet.  Ner.  31. 

3  Lucio  Fauno,  Compendio  di  Roma  Antica,  1552. 
■*  Epist.  Ivi. 

5  See  Poggio,  De  Vanitate  Fortunae. 


152  Walks  in  Rome 

pas  I'l  leiirs  traits  etranpes  un  aspect  (lu'on  cut  pu  reiidre  hideiix  ;  on  les  plagait 
sur  le  soininet  des  arcs  de  trioinphe,  debout,  la  tete  baissee,  I'air  triste. 

'  "  Sunimus  tristis  captivus  in  arcu."  ' 

— Ampere,  Emp.  il.  169. 

The  arch  was  plundered  by  Clement  VIII.,  who  carried  off  one 
of  its  eight  Corinthian  columns  to  finish  a  chapel  at  the  Lateran. 
Tiiey  were  formerly  all  of  giallo-antico  (marraor  Numidicum). 
Clement  XII.  restored  the  arch  with  blocks  taken  from  the  Temple 
of  Neptune.  But  this  is  still  the  most  striking  and  beautiful  of  the 
Eoman  arches,  and  there  is  something  touching  in  its  inscription — 
'fundatori  quietis.' 

'  L'inscription  grav^e  sur  I'arc  de  Constantin  est  curieuse  par  le  vague  de 
I'expression  en  ce  ciui  touclie  aux  ideee  leligleiises,  par  rindecision  calculee  des 
ternies  dont  se  servalt  un  senat  qui  voulait  eviter  de  se  comproiuettre  dans  un 
sens  conime  dans,  I'autre.  L'inscription  porte  (ine  cet  arc  a  616  dedii-  .i  1  empereur 
parce  iiu'il  a  delivre  la  r6pul)Ii(iHe  d'un  tyran  (on  (lit  encore  la  ri  imliliiine  I)  par 
la  grandeur  de  son  anie  et  une  inspiration  de  la  Divinit6  (ins/uic^/  (Urinitatis). 
.  .  .  Ce  monument,  (ini  c6Ubre  le  trioinphe  de  Constantin,  ne  proclaine  done  pas 
encore  nettement  le  triomphe  du  christianisme.  Comment  s'en  etonner,  quand 
sur  les  monnaies  de  cet  enipereur  on  voit  d'un  cote  le  monogramme  du  Christ 
et  de  I'autre  I'effigie  de  E,ome,  qui  6tait  luie  divinite  pour  les  paiens?' — Ampere, 
Emp.  ii.  355. 

'  The  importance  of  this  arch  rests  not  on  its  sculptured  panels  or  medallions — 
spoils  taken  at  random  from  older  structures,  from  which  the  arch  has  received 
the  nickname  of  Aesop's  crow  (la  cornacchia  di  Exopo), — but  on  the  inscription 
engraved  on  each  side  of  the  attic.  The  s.l'.cj.R.  have  dedicated  this  triumphal 
arch  to  Constantine,  because  instiiictii  (llriiiit((ti!<  (liy  the  will  of  God)  and  by  his 
own  virtue,  he  has  liberated  the  country  from  tlie  tyrant  (ilaxentius)  and  his 
faction — containing  two  memorable  words,  the  first  proclaiming  officially  the 
name  of  the  true  God  in  the  face  of  imperial  Rome.' — Lanciani. 

The  heads  of  the  statues  on  the  arch,  restored  by  Clement  XII., 
were  said  to  have  been  decapitated  by  Lorenzino  de'  Medici.  The 
arch  appears  in  several  famous  pictures,  including  the  '  Dispute 
of  S.  Catherine,'  by  Pinturicchio,  in  the  Apartamento  Borgia,  and 
the  'Castigo  del  fuoco  celeste,'  by  Botticelli,  in  the  Sistine  Chapel. 

We  now  turn  to  the  Coliseum,  originally  called  the  Flavian 
Amphitheatre.  This  vast  building  was  begun  in  A.D.  72,  upon  the 
site  of  the  reservoir  of  Nero  : 

'  Hie  ubi  conspicui  venerabilis  amphitheatri 
Erigitur  moles,  stagna  Neronis  crant' 

— Martial,  De  Sped.  EiJ.  ii.  5. 

The  Emperor  Vespasian  built  as  far  as  the  third  row  of  arches. 
His  work  was  completed  by  Titus  after  his  return  from  the  conquest 
of  Jerusalem.  It  is  said  that  12,000  captive  Jews  were  employed 
in  this  work,  as  the  Hebrews  in  building  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt, 
and  that  the  external  walls  alone  cost  a  sum  equal  to  17,000,000 
francs.  The  material  is  travertine — lapis  Tiburtinus.  It  consists 
of  four  storeys — the  first  Doric,  the  second  Ionic,  the  third  and 
fourtli  Corinthian.  The  existing  upper  storey  belongs  to  a  rebuild- 
ing under  Alexander  Severus  and  Gordian  III.  after  a  fire  caused  by 


The  Coliseum  153 

lightning,  and  is  composed  in  great  measure  of  fragments  taken  from 
other  buildings  clumsil_v  fitted  together.  The  circumference  of  the 
ellipse  externally  is  1790  feet,  its  length  is  620,  its  width  525,  its 
height  157.  The  entrance  for  the  emperor  was  between  two  arches 
facing  the  Esquiline,  where  there  is  no  cornice.  On  the  opposite  side 
was  a  similar  entrance  from  the  Palatine.  Towards  S.  Gregorio  lias 
been  discovered  the  subterranean  passage  in  which  the  Emperor 
Oommodus  was  near  being  assassinated.  The  numerous  holes  visible 
all  over  the  exterior  of  the  building  were  made  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
to  extract  the  iron  cramps,  at  that  time  of  great  value.  The  arena 
was  surrounded  by  a  wall  sufficiently  high  to  protect  the  spectators 
from  the  wild  beasts,  who  were  introduced  by  subterranean  passages 
closed  by  huge  gates,  from  the  side  towards  the  Coelian.  The 
podium  contained  the  places  of  honour  reserved  for  the  Emperor 
and  his  family,  the  Senate,  and  the  Vestal  virgins.  The  places  for 
the  other  spectators,  who  entered  by  openings  called  vomiforia, 
were  arranged  in  three  stages  {cciveae),  separated  by  a  gallery 
(praecinctio).  The  first  stage,  for  knights  and  tribunes,  had  24 
steps  ;  the  second,  for  the  common  people,  16  ;  the  third,  for  the 
soldiery,  10.  The  women,  by  order  of  the  emperor,  sat  apart  from 
the  men,  and  married  and  unmarried  men  were  also  divided.  The 
epigrams  of  Martial  show  how  jealously  any  particular  order 
guarded  the  seats  to  which  they  were  privileged.  The  whole 
building  was  said,  probably  with  exaggeration,  to  be  capable  of 
containing  87,000  persons.  At  the  top,  on  the  exterior,  may  be 
seen  the  remains  of  the  consoles  which  sustained  the  velarium 
which  was  drawn  over  the  arena  to  shelter  the  spectators  from  the 
sun  or  rain.  The  arena  could  on  occasions  be  filled  with  water  for 
the  sake  of  naval  combats  ;  the  podium  was  protected  from  it  by 
a  metal  screen,  over  which  the  wild  beasts  were  unable  to  climb. 
By  the  entrance  towards  the  Esquiline  are  remains  of  stucco 
decorations  of  great  beauty. 

The  external  charm  of  the  Coliseum  has  recently  been  spoilt  by 
the  cutting  down  of  all  the  trees  and  destruction  of  the  beautiful 
pomegranate  gardens  on  the  lower  slope  of  the  Esquiline,  and  the 
erection  in  their  place  of  the  most  hideous  and  gigantic  houses, 
destroying  all  the  effect  of  the  grand  building  below  them. 

Nothing  is  known  with  certainty  as  to  the  architect  of  the 
Coliseum,  though  a  tradition  of  the  "church  (founded  on  an  inscrip- 
tion now  preserved  in  the  crypt  of  S.  Martina)  ascribes  it  to 
Gaudentius,  a  Christian  martyr,  who  afterwards  suffered  on  the 
spot.^ 


1  This  inscription,  found  in  the  catacomb  of  S.  Agnese,  runs  :— 
Sic  praemia  servas  Vespasiane  dive      Premiatus  es  more  Gaudenti  letare 
Civitas  ubi  gloriae  tue  autori  Promisit  iata  dat  Kristus  omnia  tibi 

Qui  alium  paravit  theatru  in  celo. 
This  apparently  addresses  alternately  Vespasian,  Gaudentius,  and  Kome.    It  is 
not  clear  in  what  order  the  lines  sliould  be  read. 


154  Walks  in  Rome 

'The  name  of  the  architect  to  whom  the  great  work  of  the  Colisewm  was 
entrusted  has  not  come  down  to  us.  The  ancients  seem  themselves  to  have 
regarded  tliis  name  as  a  matter  of  little  interest ;  nor,  in  fact,  do  they  generally 
care  to  specify  the  authorship  of  their  most  illustrious  buildings.  The  reason 
is  obvious.  The  forms  of  ancient  art  in  this  department  were  almost  wholly 
conventional,  and  the  limits  of  design  within  wliicli  they  were  executed  gave 
little  room  for  the  display  of  original  taste  and  special  character.  ...  It  is  only 
in  periods  of  eclecticism  and  renaissance,  when  the  taste  of  the  architect  has 
wider  scope,  and  may  lead  the  eye  instead  fif  following  it,  that  interest  attaches 
to  his  personal  merit.  Thus  it  is  that  the  Coliseum,  tlie  most  conspicuous  type 
of  Roman  civilisation,  the  monument  which  divides  the  admiration  of  strangers 
in  modern  Rome  with  S.  Peters  itself,  is  nameless  and  parentless,  while  every 
stage  in  the  construction  of  the  great  Christian  temple,  the  creation  of  a  modern 
revival,  is  appropriated  with  jealous  care  to  its  special  claimants. 

'  The  dedication  of  the  Coliseum  afforded  to  1'itus  an  opportunity  for  a  display 
i>f  niagniticenee  hitherto  unrivalled.  A  ))attle  of  cranes  with  dwarfs  repre- 
senting the  pigmies  was  a  fanciful  novelty,  and  might  afford  diversion  for  a 
moment ;  there  were  combats  (jf  gladiators,  among  whom  women  were  included, 
though  no  noble  matron  was  allowed  to  mingle  in  the  fray ;  and  the  capacity  of 
the  vast  edifice  was  tested  by  the  slaughter  of  five  thousand  animals  in  its 
circuit.  The  show  was  crowned  with  the  immission  of  water  into  the  arena, 
and  with  a  sea-fight  representing  the  contests  of  the  Corinthians  and  Corcyreans, 
related  by  Thucydides.  .  .  .  When  all  was  over,  Titus  himself  was  seen  to  weep, 
perhaps  from  fatigue,  possibly  from  vexation  and  disgust ;  but  his  tears  were 
interpreted  as  a  presentiment  of  his  death,  which  was  now  impending,  and  it 
is  now  probable  that  he  was  already  suffering  from  a  decline  of  bodily  strength. 
.  .  .  He  lamented  effeminately  the  premature  decease  he  too  surely  anticipated, 
and,  looking  wistfully  at  the  heavens,  exclaimed  that  he  did  not  deserve  to  die. 
He  expired  on  the  13th  September  81,  not  having  quite  completed  his  fortieth 
year.' — Merivale,  ch.  Ix. 

'  Hadrian  gave  a  series  of  entertainments  in  honour  of  his  birthday,  with  the 
slaughter  of  a  thousand  beasts,  including  a  hundred  lions  and  as  many  lionesses. 
One  magical  scene  was  the  representation  of  forests,  when  the  whole  arena 
became  planted  with  living  trees,  shrubs,  and  flowers  ;  to  complete  which  illusion 
the  ground  was  made  to  open,  and  sent  forth  wild  animals  from  yawning  clefts, 
instantly  re-covered  with  bushes. 

'  One  may  imagine  the  frantic  excess  to  which  the  taste  for  gladiatorial 
combats  was  carried  in  Rome,  from  the  preventive  law  of  Augustus  that 
gladiators  should  no  more  combat  without  permission  of  the  senate ;  that 
praetors  should  not  give  these  spectacles  more  than  once  a  year ;  that  more 
than  sixty  couples  should  not  engage  at  the  same  time  ;  and  that  neither  knights 
nor  senators  should  ever  contend  in  the  arena.  The  gladiators  were  classified 
according  to  the  national  manner  of  fighting  which  they  imitated.  Thus  were 
distinguished  the  Gothic,  Dacian,  Thracian,  and  Samnite  conib;itants ;  the 
Betiarii,  who  entangled  their  opponents  in  nets  thrown  with  the  left  hand, 
defending  themselves  with  tridents  in  the  right ;  the  Secutores,  whose  special 
skill  was  in  pursuit ;  the  Laqueatores,  who  threw  slings  against  their  adversaries ; 
the  Dhiiachae,  armed  with  a  short  sword  in  each  hand  ;  the  Hoplomaehi,  armed 
at  all  points  ;  the  Myrmillones,  so  called  from  the  figure  of  a  fish  at  the  crest  of 
the  Gallic  helmet  they  wore  ;  the  Bustuarii,  who  fought  at  funeral  games  ;  the 
Dextiarii,  who  only  assailed  animals ;  other  classes  who  fought  on  horseback, 
called  Andabates ;  and  those  combating  in  chariots  drawn  by  two  horses,  Esse- 
darii.  Gladiators  were  originally  slaves  or  prisoners  of  war ;  but  the  armies 
who  contended  on  the  Roman  arena  in  later  epochs  were  divided  into  com- 
pulsory and  voluntary  combatants,  the  former  alone  composed  of  slaves  or 
condemned  criminals.  The  latter  went  through  a  laborious  education  in  their 
art,  supported  at  the  public  cost,  and  instructed  by  masters  called  Lanistae, 
resident  in  colleges  called  Ludi.  To  the  eternal  disgrace  of  the  morals  of 
Imperial  Rome,  it  is  recorded  that  women  sometimes  fought  in  the  arena,  with- 
out more  modesty  than  hired  gladiators.  The  exhibition  of  himself  in  this 
character  by  Commodus  was  a  degradation  of  the  imperial  dignity,  perhaps 
more  infamous,  according  to  ancient  Roman  notions,  than  the  theatrical  per- 
formances of  Nero.'— if emans'  'Story  of  Monuments  in  Rome.' 


The  Coliseum  155 

The  Emperor  Commodus  (a.d.  180-82)  frequently  fought  in  the 
Coliseum  himself,  and  killed  both  gladiators  and  wild  beasts, 
calling  himself  Hercules,  dressed  in  a  lion's  skin,  with  his  hair 
sprinkled  with  gold-dust. 

The  gladiatorial  combats  came  to  an  end  when,  in  403  A.D.,  an 
oriental  monk  named  Telemachus  was  so  horrified  at  them,  that  he 
rushed  into  the  midst  of  the  arena  and  besought  the  spectators  to 
renounce  them  ;  but  instead  of  listening  to  him,  they  stoned  him 
to  death.  The  first  martyrdom  here  was  that  of  S.  Ignatius — said 
to  have  been  the  child  especially  blessed  by  our  Saviour — the 
disciple  of  John  and  the  companion  of  Polycarp — who  was  sent 
here  from  Antioch,  where  he  was  bishop.  When  brought  into  the 
arena  he  knelt  down  and  exclaimed,  '  Romans  who  are  present, 
know  that  I  have  not  been  brought  into  this  place  for  any  crime, 
but  in  order  that  by  this  means  I  may  merit  the  fruition  of  the 
glory  of  God,  for  love  of  whom  I  have  been  made  prisoner.  I  am 
as  the  grain  of  the  field,  and  must  be  ground  by  the  teeth  of  the 
lions,  that  I  may  become  bread  fit  for  His  table.'  The  lions  were 
then  let  loose,  and  devoured  him,  except  the  larger  bones,  which 
the  Christians  collected  during  the  night. ^ 

'  It  is  related  of  Ignatius  that  he  grew  up  in  such  innocence  of  heart  and 
purity  of  life,  tliat  to  liim  it  was  granted  to  hear  tlie  angels  sing ;  hence,  when 
he  became  Bishop  of  Antioch,  he  introduced  into  the  service  of  his  church  the 
practice  of  singing  the  praises  of  God  in  responses,  as  he  had  heard  the  choirs 
of  angels  answering  each  other.  .  .  .  His  story  and  fate  are  so  well  attested,  and 
so  sublimely  affecting,  that  it  has  always  been  to  me  a  cause  of  surprise  as  well 
as  regret  to  find  so  few  representations  of  him.' — Jameson's  'Sacred  Art,'  693. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Ignatius,  115  Christians  were  shot  down 
here  with  arrows.  Under  Hadrian,  218  A.D.,  a  patrician  named 
Placidus,  his  wife  Theophista,  and  his  two  sons,  were  first  exposed 
here  to  the  wild  beasts,  but  when  these  refused  to  touch  them, 
were  shut  up  in  a  brazen  bull  and  roasted  by  a  fire  lighted  beneath. 
In  253,  Abdon  and  Sennen,  two  rich  citizens  of  Babylon,  were 
exposed  here  to  two  lions  and  four  bears,  but  as  the  beasts  refused 
to  attack  them,  they  were  killed  by  the  swords  of  gladiators.  In 
259  A.D.,  Sempronius,  Olympius,  Theodulus,  and  Exuperia  were 
burnt  at  the  entrance  of  the  Coliseum,  before  the  statue  of  the 
Sun.  In  272  A.D.,  S.  Prisca  was  vainly  exposed  here  to  a  lion, 
then  starved  for  three  days,  then  stretched  on  a  rack  to  have  her 
flesh  torn  by  iron  hooks,  then  put  into  a  furnace,  and — having 
survived  all  these  torments — was  finally  beheaded.  In  277  a.d., 
S.  Martina,  another  noble  Koman  lady,  was  exposed  in  vain  to  the 
beasts,  and  afterwards  beheaded  in  the  Coliseum.  S.  Alexander 
under  Antoninus  ;  S.  Potitus,  168  ;  S.  Eleutherius,  bishop  of  Illyria, 
under  Hadrian  ;  S.  Maximus,  son  of  a  senator,  284 ;  and  SS.  Vitus, 
Crescentia,  and  Modesta,  under  Domitian,  were  also  martyred  here.^ 

1  Under  the  Papal  rule,  his  relics,  preserved  at  S.  Clemente,  were  carried 
round  the  Coliseum,  with  every  circumstance  of  sacerdotal  pomp,  on  his 
festival,  February  1. 

'-  See  Hemans'  '  Catholic  Italy.' 


156  Walks  in  Eome 

'  It  is  no  ttction,  but  plain,  sohcr,  honest  trnth,  to  say  :  so  suggestive  and 
distinct  is  it  at  this  hour  :  tliat,  for  a  moment— actually  in  passing  in— they  who 
will,  may  have  the  whole  great  pile  before  them,  as  it  used  to  be,  with  thou- 
sands of  eager  faces  staring  down  into  the  arena,  and  such  a  whirl  of  strife,  and 
blood,  and  dust  going  on  there,  as  no  language  can  describe.  Its  solitude,  its 
awful  beauty,  and  its  utter  desolation,  strike  upon  the  stranger,  the  next 
moment,  like  a  softened  sorrow;  and  never  in  his  life,  perhaps,  will  he  be  so 
moved  and  overcome  by  any  sight,  not  immediately  connected  with  his  own 
affections  and  afflictions. 

'To  see  it  crumbling  there,  an  inch  a  year;  its  walls  and  arches  overgrown 
with  green,  its  corridors  open  to  the  day  ;  the  long  grass  growing  in  its  porches  ; 
young  trees  of  yesterday  springing  up  on  its  rugged  parapets,  and  bearing  fruit : 
chance  produce  of  the  seeds  dropped  there  by  the  birds  who  built  their  nests 
within  its  chinks  and  crannies  ;  to  see  its  pit  of  tiiiht  tilled  up  with  earth,  and 
the  peaceful  cross  planted  in  the  centre  ;  to  clinil)  into  its  upper  halls,  and  look 
down  on  ruin,  ruin,  ruin,  all  about  it;  the  triiiniplial  arches  of  (,'onstantine, 
Septimius  Severus,  and  Titus,  the  lloman  Forum,  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars,  the 
temples  of  the  old  religion,  fallen  down  and  gone  ;  is  to  see  the  ghost  of  old 
Rome,  wicked,  wonderful  old  city,  haunting  the  very  ground  on  which  its  people 
trod.  It  is  the  most  impressive,  the  most  stately,  the  most  solemn,  grand, 
majestic,  mournful  sight  conceivable.  Never,  in  its  bloodiest  prime,  can  the 
sight  of  the  gigantic  Coliseum,  full  and  rinming  over  with  the  lustiest  life,  have 
moved  one  heart  as  it  must  move  all  who  look  upon  it  now,  a  ruin.  God  be 
thanked  :  a  ruin.' — Dickens. 

The  spot  where  the  Christian  martyrs  suffered  was  marked  till 
1872  by  a  tall  cross,  devoutly  kissed  by  the  faithful, — and  all 
around  the  arena  of  the  Coliseum  were  the  small  chapels  or '  stations,' 
used  in  the  Via  Crucis,  wliich  was  observed  here  at  4  P.M.  every 
Friday,  when  a  confraternity  clothed  in  grey,  with  only  the  eyes 
visible,  was  followed  by  a  crowd  of  worshippers  who  chaunted  and 
prayed  at  each  station  in  turn — a  most  picturesque  and  striking 
scene — after  which  a  Capuchin  monk  preached  from  a  pulpit  on  the 
left  of  the  arena.  These  sermons  were  often  very  striking,  being 
delivered  in  a  familiar  style,  and  upon  popular  subjects  of  the  day, 
but  they  also  often  bordered  on  the  burlesque. 

'  Oswald  voulut  aller  au  Colisee  pour  entendre  le  Capucin  qui  devait  y  precher 
en  plein  air  au  pied  de  I'un  des  autels  qui  diisignent,  dans  I'interieur  de  I'enceinte, 
ce  qu'on  appelle  la  route  de  la  Croix.  Quel  plus  beau  sujet  pour  I'eloquence  que 
I'aspect  de  ce  monument,  que  cette  arene  oil  les  martyrs  ont  succed6  aux 
gladiateurs  !  Mais  il  ne  faut  rien  esperer  a  cet  6gard  du  pauvre  Capucin,  qui  ne 
connait  de  I'histoire  des  hommes  que  sa  propre  vie.  K6anmoins,  si  Ton  parvient 
k  ne  pas  ecouter  son  mauvais  sermon,  on  se  sent  emu  par  les  divers  objets  dont 
il  est  entoure.  La  plupart  de  ses  auditeurs  sont  de  la  confrerie  des  Canialdules  ; 
ils  se  revetent,  pendant  les  exercices  religieux,  d'une  espece  de  robe  grise  qui 
couvre  entierenient  latete  et  tout  le  corps,  et  ne  laisse  que  deux  petites  ouver- 
tures  pour  les  yeux  ;  c'est  ainsi  que  les  ombres  pourraient  etre  representees.  Ces 
hommes,  ainsi  caches  sous  leurs  vetements,  se  prosternent  la  face  contre  terre,  et 
se  frappent  la  poitrine.  Quand  le  predicateur  se  jette  a  genoux  en  criant  r/mcri- 
corde  et  pitic .'  le  peuple  qui  I'environne  se  jette  aussi  a  genoux,  et  repete  ce 
menie  cri,  qui  va  se  perdre  sous  les  vieux  portiques  du  Colisee.  II  est  impossible 
de  ne  pas  eprouver  alors  une  emotion  profond6ment  religieuse  ;  cet  appel  de  la 
douleur  a  la  bonte,  de  la  terre  au  ciel,  reraue  I'lime  jusque  dans  son  sanctuaire  le 
plus  intime.' — Madame  de  Stail. 

The  pulpit  of  the  Coliseum  was  used  for  the  stormy  sermons  of 
Gavazzi,  who  called  the  people  to  arms  from  thence  in  the  revolu- 
tion of  March  18-48. 

In  1872,  Signor  Rosa  obtained  leave  to  remove  the  cross  and  all 


The  Coliseum  157 

the  shrines  in  the  Coliseum,  which  was  done,  to  the  great  indigna- 
tion of  the  Roman  people.  The  excavations  made  by  Gregory  XVI., 
and  closed  again  on  account  of  their  unhealthiness,  after  careful 
plans  had  been  made,  which  still  exist  in  the  Jjarberini  Library, 
were  then  reopened.  It  has  since  been  affirmed  that  the  ancient 
level  of  the  Coliseum  was  originally  only  a  movable  boarded  floor, 
through  which  the  hundred  lions  which  were  slain  by  Commodus 
sprang  up  by  trap-doors.  The  excavations  are  of  little  interest, 
though  they  display  the  anatomy  of  the  labyrinthine  passages 
which  underlie  the  whole  of  the  arena,  and  the  arrangements  by 
which  water  could  be  supplied  for  the  naval  combats.  These 
passages  are  frequently  flooded,  and  cannot  be  inspected  for  long 
together  without  great  danger  of  fever  ;  and  the  excavations  which 
have  laid  them  bare  have  annihilated  the  beauty  of  the  Coliseum. 
Nothing  remains  of  the  exquisite  scene  of  which  Ampere  wrote — 

'Le  Colosseum  est  uu  nionde  de  mines;  tons  les  accidents  que  peuvent  y 
produire  la  lumifere,  le  vegt^tation,  le  temps,  se  trouvent  lii.  Rien  n'est  plus 
impossible  ;i  decrire  que  ces  arceaux  brises,  ces  escaliers  ecioules,  ce  lierre,  ces 
plantes,  ces  debris  suspendus  ;  la  couleur  superbe  de  ce  monument,  les  grandes 
lignes  de  la  partie  encore  debout,  tout  cela  varie  de  mille  maniferes,  selon  le 
jour  at  I'ombre  ;  et  pour  achever  le  tableau,  au  milieu  de  I'arfene  oii  les  martyrs 
ont  verse  leur  sang  se  dresse  une  immense  croix  de  bois  que  viennent  baiser  tous 
ceux  qui  passent.  Non,  rien  ne  pourra  jamais  donner  une  faible  idee  d'un  pareil 
spectacle.' — Jean-Jacques  Ampere. 

It  is  well  worth  while  to  ascend  to  the  upper  galleries  (a  guardian 
will  open  a  locked  door  for  the  purpose  near  the  entrance  from  the 
Forum),  as  then  only  is  it  possible  to  realise  the  vast  size  and  grandeur 
of  the  building. 

^  May  1827.— Lastly,  we  ascended  to  the  top  of  the  Coliseum,  Bunsen  leaving 
us  at  the  door,  to  go  home  ;  and  I  seated  myself  just  above  the  main  entrance, 
towards  the  Forum,  and  there  took  my  farewell  look  over  Rome.  It  was  a 
delicious  evening,  and  everything  was  looking  to  advantage  : — the  huge  Coliseum 
just  under  me,  the  tufts  of  ilex  and  aliternus  and  other  shrubs  that  fringe  the 
walls  everywhere  in  the  lower  part,  while  the  outside  wall,  with  its  top  of 
gigantic  stones,  lifts  itself  high  above,  and  seems  like  a  mountain  barrier  of 
bare  rock,  enclosing  a  green  and  varied  valley.  I  sat  and  gazed  upon  the  scene 
with  an  intense  and  mingled  feeling.  The  world  could  show  nothing  grander; 
it  was  one  which  for  years  I  had  longed  to  see,  and  I  was  now  looking  at  it 
for  the  last  time.  AA'lien  I  last  see  the  dome  of  S.  Peter's  I  shall  seem  to  be 
parting  from  more  than  a  mere  town  full  of  curiosities,  where  the  eye  has 
V)een  amused  and  the  intellect  gratified.  I  never  thought  to  have  felt  thus 
tenderly  towards  Rome ;  but  the  inexplicable  solemnity  and  beauty  of  her 
ruined  condition  has  quite  bewitched  me,  and  to  the  latest  hour  of  my  life  I  shall 
remember  the  Forum,  the  surrounding  hills,  and  the  magnificent  Coliseum.'— 
Arnold's  Letters. 

The  upper  arches  frame  a  series  of  views  of  the  Aventine,  the 
Capitoline,  the  Coelian,  and  the  Campagna,  like  a  succession  of 
beautiful  pictures. 

Those  who  visit  the  Coliseum  by  moonlight  will  realise  the  truth- 
fulness of  the  following  description  : — 

'  I  do  remember  me,  that  in  my  youth. 
When  I  was  wandering,— upon  such  a  night 
I  stood  within  the  Coliseum's  wall, 
'Midst  the  chief  relics  of  almighty  Rome  ; 


158  Walks  in  Rome 

The  trees  which  grew  along  the  broken  arches 

Waved  dark  in  the  blue  niidniKlit,  and  the  stars 

Shone  throujih  tlio  rents  of  rnin  ;  from  afar 

The  watch-dog  bayed  beyond  tlie  Tiber;  and 

More  near  from  out  tlie  Caesars'  palace  came 

The  owl's  long  cry,  and,  interruptedly, 

Of  distant  sentinels  the  fitful  song 

Began  and  died  upon  the  gentle  wind  : — 

Some  cypresses  beyond  the  time-worn  breach 

Appeared  to  skirt  the  horizon,  yet  tliey  stood 

Within  a  bowshot  where  the  Caesars  dwelt. 

And  dwell  tlie  tuneless  liirds  of  night,  amidst 

A  grove  which  springs  through  levell'd  battlements, 

And  twines  its  roots  witli  tlie  imiierial  hearths ; 

Ivy  usurps  tlie  laurel's  place  of  growth ; — 

But  the  gladiators'  bloody  circus  stands, 

A  noble  wreck  in  ruinous  i)erfection  ! 

While  Caesar's  chambers  and  the  Augustan  halls, 

Grovel  on  earth  in  indistinct  decay. 

And  thou  didst  shine,  thou  rolling  moon,  upon 

All  this,  and  casi  a  wide  and  tender  light. 

Which  softened  down  the  hoar  austerity 

Of  rugged  desolation,  and  fill'd  up, 

As  't  were  anew,  the  gaps  of  centuries ; 

Leaving  that  beautiful  which  still  was  so, 

And  making  tliat  which  was  not,  till  tlie  place 

Became  religion,  and  the  heart  ran  o'er 

With  silent  worship  of  the  great  of  old  : — 

The  dead  Imt  sceptred  sovereigns,  who  still  rule 

Our  spirits  from  their  urns.' — Manfred. 

'  Arches  on  arches  !  as  it  wore  that  Rome, 
Collecting  the  chief  trophies  of  her  line. 
Would  build  up  all  her  triumphs  in  one  dome, 
Her  Coliseum  stands  ;  the  moonbeams  shine 
As  't  were  its  natural  torches,  for  divine 
Should  be  the  light  which  streams  here,  to  illume 
The  long-explored  but  still  e.vhaustless  mine 
Of  contemplation  ;  and  the  azure  gloom 
Of  an  Italian  night,  where  the  deep  skies  assume 

'  Hues  which  have  words,  and  speak  to  ye  of  heaven. 
Floats  o'er  this  vast  and  wondrous  monument. 
And  shadows  forth  its  glory.     There  is  given 
Unto  the  things  of  earth,  which  Time  hath  bent, 
A  spirit's  feeling,  and  where  he  hath  leant 
His  hand,  but  broke  his  scythe,  there  is  a  power 
And  magic  in  the  ruined  battlement. 
For  which  the  palace  of  the  present  hour 
Must  yield  its  pomp,  and  wait  till  ages  are  its  dower.' 

^Childe  Harold. 

'  No  one  can  form  any  idea  of  full  moonlight  in  Rome  who  has  not  seen  it. 
Every  individual  object  is  swallowed  in  the  huge  masses  of  light  and  shadow,  and 
only  the  marked  and  principal  outlines  remain  visil)le.  Tliree  days  ago  (Feb.  2, 
1787)  we  made  good  use  of  a  light  and  most  beautiful  night.  The  Coliseum  pre- 
sents a  vision  of  beauty.  It  is  closed  at  night ;  a  hermit  lives  inside  in  a  little 
church,  and  beggars  roost  amid  the  ruined  vaults.  They  had  lighted  a  fire  on 
the  bare  ground,  and  a  gentle  lireeze  drove  the  smoke  across  the  arena.  The 
lower  portion  of  the  ruin  was  lost,  while  the  enormous  walls  above  stood  forth 
into  the  darkness.  We  stood  at  the  gates  and  gazed  upon  this  phenomenon. 
The  moon  shone  higli  and  bright.  Gradually  the  smoke  moved  through  the 
chinks  and  apertures  in  the  walls,  and  the  moon  illuminated  it  like  a  mist.  It 
was  an  exquisite  moment ! ' — Goethe. 


The  Coliseum  159 

It  is  believed  that  the  building  of  the  Coliseum  remained  entire 
until  the  eighth  century,  and  that  its  ruin  dates  from  the  invasion  of 
Kobert  Guiscard,  who  destroyed  it  to  prevent  its  being  used  as  a 
stronghold  by  the  Romans.  During  the  Middle  Ages  it  served  as  a 
fortress,  and  became  the  cas^tle  of  the  great  family  of  Frangipani, 
who  here  gave  refuge  to  Pope  Innocent  II.  (Papareschi)  and  his 
family  against  the  anti-pope  Anacletus  II.,  and  afterwards  in  the 
same  way  protected  Innocent  III.  (Conti)  and  his  brothers  against 
the  anti-pope  Paschal  II.  Constantly  at  war  with  the  Frangipani 
were  the  Annibaldi,  who  possessed  a  neighbouring  fortress,  and 
obtained  from  Gregory  IX.  a  grant  of  half  the  Coliseum,  which  was 
rescinded  by  Innocent  IV.  During  the  absence  of  the  popes  at 
Avignon  the  Annibaldi  got  possession  of  the  whole  of  the  Coliseum, 
but  it  was  taken  away  again  in  1312,  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
municipality,  after  which  it  was  used  for  bull-fights,  in  which  (as 
described  by  Monaldeschi)  nobles  of  high  rank  took  part  and  lost 
their  lives.  In  1381  the  senate  made  over  part  of  the  ruins  to  the 
Canons  of  the  Lateran,  to  be  used  as  a  hospital,  and  their  occupation 
is  still  commemorated  by  the  arms  of  the  Chapter  (our  Saviour's 
head  between  two  candelabra)  sculptured  in  various  parts  of  the 
building.  Necromancers  used  to  practise  their  arts  in  the  enclosure, 
and  Benvenuto  Cellini,  in  his  Memoirs,  describes  how  he  caused  a 
magician  to  people  the  arena  with  devils.  From  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury the  Coliseum  began  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  stone  quarry,  and 
the  palaces  Farnese,  Barberini,  Venezia,  with  the  Cancelleria,  were 
built  of  materials  plundered  from  its  walls.  It  is  said  that  the  first 
of  its  destroyers,  Cardinal  Farnese,  only  extorted  permission  from 
his  reluctant  uncle,  Paul  III.,  to  quarry  as  much  stone  as  he  could 
remove  in  twelve  hours,  and  that  he  availed  himself  of  this  permis- 
sion to  let  loose  four  thousand  workmen  upon  the  building.  An 
official  document  testifies  that  in  1452  Giovanni  Foglia  of  Como 
was  permitted  to  carry  off  2522  cart-loads  of  travertine.  Sixtus  V. 
endeavoured  to  utilise  the  building  by  turning  the  arcades  into 
shops,  and  establishing  a  woollen  manufactory,  and  Clement  XI. 
(1700-21)  by  a  manufactory  of  saltpetre,  but  both  happily  failed. 
In  the  last  century  the  tide  of  restoration  began  to  set  in.  A 
Carmelite  monk,  Angelo  Paoli,  represented  the  iniquity  of  allowing 
a  spot  consecrated  by  such  holy  memories  to  be  desecrated,  and 
Clement  XI.  consecrated  the  arena  to  the  memory  of  the  martyrs 
who  had  suffered  there,  and  erected  in  one  of  the  archways  the 
chapel  of  S.  Maria  della  Pieta.  The  hermit  appointed  to  take  care 
of  this  chapel  was  stabbed  in  1742,  which  caused  Benedict  XIV.  to 
shut  in  the  Coliseum  with  bars  and  gates.  Under  the  six  last 
popes  destruction  was  made  sacrilege,  and  they  all  contributed  to 
strengthen  and  preserve  the  walls  which  remain  ;  but  since  the 
fall  of  the  Papacy,  the  ruins  have  been  cruelly  injured  by  the 
tearing  out,  under  Rosa,  of  all  the  shrubs  and  plants  which  adorned 
them,  in  the  eradication  of  which  more  of  the  stones  have  given 
way  than  would  have  fallen  in  five  hundred  years  of  time.  As  late 
as  fifty  years  ago,  the  interior  of  the  Coliseum  was  (like  that  of  an 


160  Walks  in  Rome 

English  abbey)  an  uneven  grassy  space  littered  with  masses  of 
ruin,  amid  which  large  trees  grew  and  flourished.^ 

In  the  gaunt,  bare,  ugly  interior  of  the  Coliseum  as  it  now  is,  it  is 
difficult  even  to  conjure  up  a  recollection  of  the  ruin  so  gloriously 
beautiful  imtler  the  popes,  where  every  turn  was  a  picture. 

Among  the  ecclesiastical  legends  connected  with  the  Coliseum, 
it  is  said  that  Gregory  the  Great  presented  some  foreign  ambassa- 
dors with  a  handful  of  earth  from  the  arena  as  a  relic  for  their 
sovereigns,  and  upon  their  receiving  the  gift  with  disrespect,  he 
pressed  it,  when  blood  flowed  from  the  soil.  Pius  V.  urged  those 
who  wished  for  relics  to  gather  up  the  dust  of  the  Coliseum,  wet 
with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs. 

In  1744,  '  the  Blessed  Leonardo  di  Porto  Maurizio,'  who  is  buried 
in  S.  Buonaventura,  drew  immense  crowds  to  the  Coliseum  by  his 
preaching,  and  obtained  permission  from  Benedict  XIV.  to  found 
the  confraternity  of  '  Amanti  di  Gesu  e  Maria,'  for  whom  the  Via 
Crucis  was  established  here,  which  was  only  destroyed  in  1872. 
In  later  times  the  ruins  have  been  associated  with  the  holy  beggar, 
Benoit  Joseph  Labrd  (beatified  by  Pius  IX.  in  LSGO  and  since  canon- 
ised), who  died  at  Kome  in  1783,  after  a  life  spent  in  devotion. 
He  was  accustomed  to  beg  in  the  Coliseum,  to  sleep  at  night  under 
its  arcades,  and  to  pray  for  hours  at  its  various  shrines.  Nothing 
remains  of  the  seven  churches  of  the  Coliseum — S.  Salvatore  in 
Tellure,  de  Trasi,  de  Insula,  de  rota  Colisei,  S.  James,  S.  Agatha, 
and  that  of  SS.  Abdon  and  Sennen,  at  the  foot  of  the  Colossus  of 
the  Sun,  where  the  bodies  of  those  saints  were  exposed  after 
martyrdom. 

The  name  Coliseum  is  first  found  in  the  writings  of  the  venerable 
Bede,  who  quotes  a  prophecy  of  Anglo-Saxon  pilgrims — 

'  Wliile  stands  the  Coliseum,  Rome  shall  stand  ; 
When  falls  the  Coliseum,  Rome  shall  fall ; 
And  when  Rome  falls,  the  world. '2 

The  name  was  probably  derived  from  its  size  ;  the  amphitheatre 
of  Capua  was  also  called  Colossus. 

Once  or  twice  in  the  course  of  every  Roman  winter  the  Coliseum 
is  illuminated  with  Bengal  lights. 

'  Les  etrangers  se  donnent  parfois  I'amusement  d'eclairer  le  Colis^e  avec  des 
feux  de  Bengale.  Cela  ressemble  lui  pen  trop  a  un  final  de  melodrame,  et  on 
pent  priferer  comme  Illumination  un  radieux  soleil  ou  les  douces  lueurs  de  la 
lune.  Cependant  j'avoue  que  la  premiere  fois  que  le  Colis^e  m'apparut  ainsi, 
embras6  de  feux  rougeatres,  son  histoire  me  revint  vivement  a  la  penste.  Je 
trouvais  qu'il  avait  en  ce  moment  sa  vraie  couleur,  la  couleur  du  sang.' — 
Ampere,  Emp.  ii.  156. 


1  A  work  on  the  extraordinary  Flora  of  the  Coliseum,  420  species,  now,  alas  ! 
extinct,  has  been  published  by  S.  Deakin. 

2  '  Quamdiu  stat  Colysaeus,  stat  et  Roma ;  quando  cadet  Colysaeus,  cadet  et 
Roma,  cadet  et  mundus.' 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  VELABRUM  AND  THE  GHETTO 

S.  Teodoro— S.  Anastasia— Circus  Maxinms— S.  Giorgio  in  Velabio— Arch  of 
Septiniius  Severus— Arch  of  Janus— Cloaca  Maxima— S.  Maria  in  Cosniedin 
—Temple  of  Vesta— Temple  of  Fortuna  Virilis— House  of  Rienzi— Ponte 
Rotto— Ponte  Sublicio— S.  Nicolo  in  Carcere— Theatre  of  Marcellus— Portico 
of  Octavia—Pescheria— Jewish  Synagogue— Palazzo  Cenci— Fontana  Tar- 
tarughe — Palazzo  Mattel— Palazzo  Caetani— S.  Caterina  dei  Funari— S.  Maria 
Campitelli— Palazzo  Margana— Convent  of  the  Tor  de'  Specchi. 

THE  second  turn  on  the  right  of  the  Roman  Forum  is  the  Via  del 
Fienili,  formerly  the  Vicus  Tuscus,  so  called  from  the  Etruscan 
colony  established  there  after  the  drying  up  of  the  marsh  which 
occupied  that  site  in  the  earliest  periods  of  Roman  history.  During 
the  empire,  this  street,  leading  from  the  Forum  to  the  Circus  Maxi- 
mus,  was  one  of  the  most  important.  Martial  speaks  of  its  silk 
mercers  :  from  an  inscription  on  a  tomb  we  know  that  the  fashion- 
able tailors  were  to  be  found  there  ;  and  the  perfumers'  shops  were 
of  such  abundance  as  to  give  to  part  of  tlie  street  the  name  of  Vicus 
Thurarius.  At  its  entrance  was  the  statue  of  the  Etruscan  god 
Vertumnus,  the  patron  of  the  quarter.'  This  was  the  street  by  which 
the  processions  of  the  Circensian  games  passed  from  the  Forum  to 
the  Circus  Maximus.  In  one  of  the  Verrine  Orations,  an  accusation 
brought  by  Cicero  against  the  patrician  Verres  was  that  from 
avaricious  motives  he  had  paved  even  this  street — used  for  the  pro- 
cessions of  the  Circus — in  such  a  manner  that  he  would  not  venture 
to  use  it  himself. - 

All  this  valley  was  once  a  stagnant  marsh,  left  by  inundations  of 
the  Tiber,  for  in  early  times  the  river  often  overflowed  the  whole 
valley  between  the  Palatine  and  the  Capitoline  hills,  and  even 
reached  as  far  as  the  foot  of  the  Quirinal,  where  the  Goat's  Pool,  at 
which  Romulus  disappeared,  is  supposed  to  have  formed  part  of  the 
same  swamp.  Ovid,  in  describing  the  processions  of  the  games, 
speaks  of  the  willows  and  rushes  which  once  covered  this  ground, 
and  the  marshy  places  which  one  could  not  pass  over  except  with 
bare  feet  : — 


1  .See  Ampfere,  Hist.  Rom.  ii.  289-92. 

2  '  Quis  a  signo  Vertumni  in  Circum  Maximum  venit,  (juin  is  unoquoque  gradu 
de  avaritia  tua  commoneretur?  quam  tu  viani  tensarum  atque  porapae  ejusmodi 
exegisti,  ut  tu  ipse  ilia  ire  non  audeas.' — In  Vcrrem,  i.  59. 

VOL.  I.  161  L 


162  Walks  in  Rome 

'  Qua  Velabra  solent  in  Circuin  ducere  pompas, 

Nil  praeter  salices  cassaque  canna  fuit. 
Saepe  siiburbaiias  redietis  conviva  per  undas 

Oantat,  et  ad  nautas  ebria  verba  jacit. 
Nonduni  conveniens  diversis  iste  ttguris 

Xonieii  al)  averso  ceperat  anine  dens. 
Ilic  qiuique  lucns  erat,  juncis  et  arundine  densus, 

Et  pede  velato  non  adennda  palus. 
Stagna  recesserunt,  et  aquas  sua  ripa  coL-rcet ; 

Siccaque  nunc  tellus.     Mos  tamen  ille  manet.' 

—Fast.  vi.  405. 

We  even  know  the  price  which  was  paid  for  being  ferried  across 
the  Velabrum :  '  it  was  a  quadrans,  three  times  as  much  as  one 
paj's  now  for  the  boat  at  the  Ripetta.'  i  The  creation  of  the  Cloaca 
Maxima  had  probably  done  much  towards  draining,  but  some  frag- 
ments of  the  marsh  remained  to  a  late  period. 

According  to  Varro,  the  name  of  the  Velabrum  was  derived  from 
vehcre,  because  of  the  boats  which  were  employed  to  convey  passen- 
gers from  one  hill  to  another.-  Others  derive  the  name  from  vela, 
also  in  reference  to  the  mode  of  transit,  or,  according  to  another 
idea,  in  reference  to  the  awnings  which  were  stretched  across  the 
street  to  shelter  the  processions— though  the  name  was  in  existence 
long  before  any  processions  were  thought  of. 

It  was  the  water  of  the  Velabrum  which  bore  the  cradle  of 
Romulus  and  Remus  from  the  Tiber,  and  deposited  it  under  the 
famous  fig-tree  of  the  Palatine. 


On  the  left  of  the  Via  dei  Fienili  (shut  in  by  a  railing,  generally 
closed,  but  which  will  be  opened  on  appealing  to  the  sacristan  next 
door)  is  the  round  Church  of  S.  Teodoro.  The  origin  of  this  build- 
ing is  unknown.  This  church  formerly  stood  on  a  much  higher 
level  than  the  street,  and  it  was  so  even  in  1534  ;  its  present  rela- 
tion to  the  street  is  evidence  of  the  rapid  rise  of  the  soil  in  Rome. 
The  church  used  to  be  called  the  Temple  of  Romulus,  on  the 
very  sliglit  foundation  that  the  famous  bronze  wolf,  mentioned  by 
Dionysius  as  existing  in  the  Temple  of  Romulus,  was  found  near  this 
spot.  Dyer  supposes  that  it  may  have  been  the  Temple  of  Cybele  ; 
this,  however,  was  upon,  and  not  under,  the  Palatine.  Be  they  what 
they  may,  the  remains  were  dedicated  as  a  Christian  church  by 
Adrian  I.  in  the  eighth  century,  and  some  well-preserved  mosaics  in 
the  tribune  are  of  that  time.  The  high  altar,  till  1703,  was  sup- 
ported by  a  Roman  ara,  on  the  rim  of  which  was  inscribed  :  '  On 
this  marble  of  the  Gentiles  incense  was  offered  to  the  gods.' 

'  It  is  curious  to  note  in  Rome  how  many  a  modern  superstition  has  its  root  in 
an  ancient  one,  and  how  tenaciously  customs  still  cling  to  the  old  localities. 
On  the  Palatine  hill  the  bronze  she-wolf  was  once  worshipped  as  the  wooden 
Bamliino  is  now.     It  stood  in  the  Temple  of  Romulus,  and  there  the  ancient 

ij Varro,  De  Ling.  Lat.  v.  44.     See  Ampfere,  Hist.  Rom.  ii.  32. 
2  Varro,  De  Ling.  Lat.  iv.  8. 


S.  Anastasia  163 

Romans  used  to  carry  children  to  be  cured  of  their  diseases  by  touching  it  On 
the  supposed  site  of  the  temple  now  stands  the  church  dedicated  to  S.  Teodore 
or  Santo  Toto,  as  he  is  called  in  Rome.  Thouarh  names  must  have  changed  and 
the  temple  has  vanished,  and  churcli  after  church  has  here  decayed  and  been  re- 
built, the  old  superstition  remains,  and  the  common  people  at  certain  periods 
still  bring  their  sick  children  to  Santo  Toto,  that  he  may  heal  them  with  his 
touch.' — Story's  '  lioba  di  Roma.'  i 

Farther  on  the  left,  still  under  the  shadow  of  the  Palatine  Hill, 
is  the  large  and  ancient  Church  of  S.  Anastasia,  completelv 
modernised  in  1722  by  Carlo  Gimach,  but  containing,  beneath 
the  altar,  a  beautiful  statue  of  the  martyred  saint  reclining  on  a 
faggot. 

'  Notwithstanding  her  beautiful  Greek  name,  and  her  fame  as  one  of  the  great 
saints  of  the  Greek  Calendar,  S.  Anastasia  is  represented  as  a  noble  Roman 
lady,  who  perished  during  the  persecution  of  Diocletian.  She  was  persecuted 
by  her  husband  and  family  for  openly  professing  the  Christian  faith,  but,  l)eing 
sustained  by  the  eloquent  exhortations  of  S.  Chrysogonus,  she  passed  trium- 
phantly, receiving  in  due  time  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  being  condemned  to 
the  flames.  Chrysogonus  was  put  to  death  with  the  sword  and  his  body  thrown 
into  the  sea. 

'  According  to  the  best  authorities,  these  two  saints  did  not  suffer  in  Rome,  but 
in  lUyria ;  yet  in  Rome  we  are  assured  that  Anastasia,  after  her  martyrdom,  was 
buried  by  her  friend  Apollina  in  the  garden  of  her  house  under  the  Palatine 
Hill  and  close  to  the  Circus  Maximns.  There  stood  the  church  dedicated  in 
the  fourth  century,  and  there  it  now  stands.  It  was  one  of  the  principal 
churches  in  Rome  in  the  time  of  S.  Jerome,  who,  according  to  ancient  tradition, 
celebrated  mass  at  one  of  the  altars,  which  is  still  regarded  with  peculiar 
veneration.' — Jameson,  '  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art.' 

It  was  the  custom  for  the  mediaeval  Popes  to  celebrate  their 
second  mass  of  Christmas  night  in  this  church,  for  which  reason 
S.  Anastasia  is  still  especially  commemorated  in  that  mass.  Plato 
(father  of  Pope  John  VII.,  705-8),  buried  in  this  church,  is  described 
in  his  epitaph  as  having  restored,  at  his  own  expense,  the  staircase 
leading  into  the  ancient  Palace  of  the  Caesars. 


1  '  There  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  the  amusements,  still  more  many  of  the 
religious  practices  now  popular  in  this  capital,  may  be  traced  to  sources  in  pagan 
antiquity.  The  game  of  morra,  played  with  the  fingers  (the  micare  digitis  of  the 
ancients);  the  rural  feasting  Ijefore  the  chapel  of  the  Madonna  del  Divino  Amore 
on  Whit  Monday ;  the  revelry  and  dancing  s«6  dio  for  the  whole  night  on  the 
Vigil  of  S.  John  (a  scene  on  the  Lateran  piazza,  riotous,  grotesque,  but  not 
licentious);  the  divining  by  dreams  to  oljtain  numbers  for  the  lottery  ;  hanging 
ex-voto  pictures  in  churches  to  commemorate  escapes  from  danger  or  recovery 
from  illness;  the  offering  of  jewels,  watches,  weapons,  <fec.,  to  the  Madonna; 
the  adorning  and  dressing  of  sacred  images,  sometimes  for  particular  days ; 
throwing  floweis  on  the  Madonna's  figure  when  borne  in  processions  (as  used  to 
be  honoured  the  image  or  stone  of  Cybele) ;  burning  lights  before  images  on  the 
highways  ;  paying  special  honour  to  sacred  pictures,  under  the  notion  of  their 
having  moved  their  eyes  ;  or  to  others,  under  the  idea  of  their  supernatural 
origin — made  without  hands  ;  wearing  effigies  or  symbols  as  amulets  (thus  Sulla 
wore,  and  used  to  invoke,  a  little  golden  Apollo  hung  round  his  neck);  suspending 
flowers  to  shrines  and  tombs ;  besides  other  uses,  in  themselves  blameless  and 
beautiful,  nor,  even  if  objectionable,  to  be  regarded  as  the  genuine  reflex  of  what 
is  dogmatically  taught  by  the  Church.  This  enduring  shadow  thrown  by  pagan 
over  Christian  Rome  is,  however,  a  remarkable  feature  in  the  story  of  that  power 
whose  eminence  in  ruling  and  influencing  was  so  wonderfully  sustained,  nor 
destined  to  become  extinct  after  empire  had  departed  from  the  Seven  Hills.'— 
Hemans,  *  Monuments  of  Roine.' 


164  Walks  in  Rome 

To  the  left  of  the  his;h  altar  is  tlie  tomb  of  the  learned  Cardinal 
Mai,  by  the  sculptor  Benzoni,  who  owed  everythiiit^  to  the  kind 
interest  with  which  this  cardinal  regarded  him  from  childhood. 
The  epitaph  is  remarkable.  It  is  thus  translated  by  Cardinal 
Wiseman  : — 

'  I,  who  my  life  in  walieful  studies  wore, 

Berjzanio's  son,  named  Angelo,  here  lie. 
The  empyreal  rol)e  and  crimson  hat  I  bore, 

Rome  ;,'ave.    Thou  giv'st  me,  Christ,  th'  empyreal  sky. 
AwaitiuK  Thee,  long  toil  I  t:(iul(l  endure  : 
So  with  Thee  be  my  rust  now,  sweet,  secure.' 

Through  this  church,  also,  we  may  enter  some  subterraneous 
chambers,  which  are  of  considerable  interest  as  belonging  to  the 
lower  floor  of  the  House  of  Augustus  (see  later),  in  the  Palace  of 
the  Caesars. 

The  valley  near  this,  between  the  Palatine  and  the  Aventine, 
was  orisinally  called  Vallis  Murcia,  from  an  altar  to  the  Dea 
Murcia  (Venus),  named  from  the  myrtle  trees  which  abounded  here.^ 
It  became  the  site  of  the  Circus  Maximus,  of  which  the  last  ves- 
tiges were  destroyed  in  the  time  of  Paul  V.  Its  ground-plan  can, 
however,  be  identified  with  the  assistance  of  the  small  Circus  of 
Maxentius  on  the  Via  Appia,  which  still  partially  exists.  It  was 
intended  for  chariot-races  and  horse-races,  and  is  said  to  have  been 
first  instituted  by  Tarquinius  Prisons  after  his  conquest  of  the  Latin 
town  of  Apiolae.  It  was  a  vast  oblong,  ending  in  a  semicircle,  and 
surrounded  by  three  rows  of  seats,  termed  collectively  carea.  In 
the  centre  of  the  area  was  the  low  wall  called  the  spina,  at  each 
end  of  which  were  the  metae  or  goals,  and  in  the  centre  the  obelisk 
now  in  the  Piazza  del  Popolo.-  Between  the  metae  were  columns 
supporting  the  ova,  egg-shaped  balls,  and  delphinae,  or  dolphins, 
each  seven  in  number,  one  of  which  was  put  up  for  each  circuit 
made  in  the  race.  At  the  extremity  of  the  Circus  were  the  stalls 
for  the  horses  and  chariots,  called  carreres.  This,  the  square  end 
of  the  Circus,  was  termed  oppldum,  from  its  external  resemblance 
to  a  town  with  walls  and  towers.  In  the  Circus  Maximus,  which 
was  used  for  hunting  wild  beasts,  Julius  Caesar  made  a  canal, 
called  Euripus,^  ten  feet  wide,  between  the  seats  and  the  race- 
course, to  protect  the  spectators.  The  charioteers  offered  sacrifice 
to  Consus,  that  he  might  protect  them  in  case  of  an  upset.  The 
Ludi  Circciiscs  were  first  established  by  Romulus,  to  attract  his 
Sabine  neighbours,  in  order  that  he  might  supply  his  city  with 
wives.  The  games  were  generally  at  the  expense  of  the  aediles, 
and  their  cost  was  so  great  that  Caesar  was  obliged  to  sell  his 
Tiburtine  villa  to  defray  those  given  during  his  aedileship.  Perhaps 
the  most  magnificent  games  known  were  those  in  the  reign  of 
Carinus  (Imp.  a.d.  283),  when  the  Circus  was  transformed  into  an 

»  Varro,  De  Ling.  IaU.  v.  154  ;  Pliny,  Higf.  Xat.  xv.  29. 

2  Under  Constantius  the  obelisk,  now  at  the  Lateran,  was  also  erected  there. 

3  Made  to  flow  with  wine  under  Heliogabalus. 


Forum  Boarium  165 

artificial  forest,  in  which  hundreds  of  wild  beasts  and  birds  were 
slaughtered.  At  one  time  this  circus  was  capable  of  containing 
285,000  persons,  all  comfortably  seated. 

At  the  western  extremity  of  the  Circus  Maximus  stood  the 
Temple  of  Ceres,  Liber,  and  Libera  (said  to  have  been  vowed  by 
the  Dictator  Aulus  Postumius  at  the  battle  of  the  Lake  Regillus"), 
dedicated  by  the  Consul  Sp.  Cassius,  B.C.  492. 

'Quand  la  pere  de  Cassius  I'eut  immole  de  ses  propres  mains  a  I'avidito  patri- 
cienne,  il  fit  don  du  pecule  de  son  tils — un  tils  n'avait  que  son  pocille  comnie  un 
esulave— tY  ce  nienie  temple  de  Cerfes  que  Spurius  Cassius  avail  consacre,  et  par 
une  f^roce  ironie,  mit  au  bas  de  la  statue  fait  avec  cet  argent,  et  qu'il  dediait  a. 
la  deesse  :  "Don  de  la  famille  Cassia." 

'  L'ironie  etait  d'autant  plus  amere,  que  Ton  vendait  auprfes  du  temple  deC6rfes 
ceux  qui  avaient  offense  un  tribun. 

'  Ce  temple,  mis  particulierement  sous  la  surveillance  des  6diles  et  ou  ils 
avaient  leurs  archives,  etait  le  temple  de  la  democratie  romaine.  Le  farouche 
patricien  le  choisit  pour  lui  faire  adresser  par  son  fils  mort  au  service  de  la 
democratie  un  derisoire  hommnge.'— Ampere,  Hist.  Mom.  ii.  416. 

We  must  now  retrace  our  steps  for  a  short  distance,  and  descend 
into  a  hollow  on  the  left,  which  we  have  passed  between  the 
churches  of  S.  Teodoro  and  S.  Anastasia. 

Here  an  interesting  group  of  buildings  still  stands  to  mark  the 
site  of  the  famous  ox-market,  Forum  Boarium.  In  its  centre  a 
brazen  bull,  brought  from  Egina,i  once  commemorated  the  story  of 
the  oxen  of  Geryon,  which  Hercules  left  to  pasture  on  this  marshy 
site,  and  which  were  stolen  hence  by  Cacus,  and  is  said  by  Ovid  to 
have  given  a  name  to  the  locality  : — ■ 

'  Pontibus  et  raagno  juncta  est  celeberrima  Circo 
Area,  quae  posito  de  bove  nomen  habet.' 

—Fast.  vi.  478. 

The  fact  of  this  place  being  used  as  a  market  for  oxen  is  men- 
tioned by  Livy.- 

The  Forum  Boarium  is  associated  with  several  deeds  of  cruelty. 
After  the  battle  of  Cannae,  a  male  and  a  female  Greek  and  a  male 
and  a  female  Gaul  were  buried  alive  liere  ;  •*  and  here  the  first  fight 
of  gladiators  took  place,  being  introduced  by  M.  and  D.  Brutus  at 
the  funeral  of  their  father  in  B.C.  264.'*  Here  the  Vestal  virgins 
buried  the  sacred  utensils  of  their  worship,  at  the  spot  called 
Doliola,  when  they  fled  from  Rome  after  the  battle  of  the  Allia.^ 

Amongst  the  buildings  which  once  existed  in  the  Forum  Boarium, 
but  of  which  no  trace  remains,  were  the  Temple  of  the  Sabine 
deity  Matuta,  and  the  Temple  of  Fortune,  both  ascribed  to  Servius 
Tullius. 

'  Hac  ibi  luce  feruut  Matutae  sacra  parent! 
Sceptriferas  Servi  templa  dedisse  manus.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  vi.  470. 


Pliny,  xxxiv.  2.  2  Livy,  xxi.  62.  ■*  Amp6re,  Ilist.  Bom.  i. 

■i  Dyer,  104.  s  Livy,  v.  40. 


166  Walks  in  Rome 

'  Lux  eadeni,  Fortuna,  tua  est,  auctorque  locusque. 
Sed  superinjectis  (luis  latet  iste  togis  ? 

Servius  est :  jam  coustat  eniiu ' 

—Fast.  vi.  569. 

The  Temple  of  Fortune  was  rebuilt  by  LucuUus,  and  Dion  Cassius 
mentions  that  the  axle  of  Julius  Caesar's  car  broke  down  in  front 
of  it  on  occasion  of  one  of  his  triumphs.'  Another  temple  in  this 
neighbourhood  was  that  of  Pudicitia  Patricia,  into  which  the  noble 
ladies  refused  to  admit  Virginia,  because  she  had  espoused  a 
plebeian  consul.-  Here,  also,  was  the  Temple  of  Hercules  Victor, 
erected  by  Pompey.*  The  two  earliest  triumphal  arches  were  built 
in  this  forum,  being  in  honour  of  L.  Stertinius,  erected  B.C.  196, 
after  his  victories  in  Spain. 

The  building  which  first  attracts  attention,  among  those  now 
standing,  is  the  Arch  of  Janus,  the  Sabine  god.  It  has  four  equal 
sides  and  arches,  turned  to  the  four  points  of  the  compass,  and 
forty-eight  niches,  probably  intended  for  the  reception  of  small 
statues.  Bas-reliefs  on  the  inverted  blocks  employed  in  the  lower 
part  of  this  edifice  show  that  they  must  have  been  removed  from 
earlier  buildings.  The  quadripartite  vaulting  of  the  arch  is  inte- 
resting from  its  early  construction.  This  was  probably  used  as  a 
portico  for  shelter  or  business  for  those  who  trafficked  in  the 
forum  ;  there  were  many  similar  porticoes  in  ancient  Rome. 

On  the  left  of  the  arch  of  Janus  is  a  narrow  alley,  spanned  by 
low  brick  arches,  which  leads  first  to  the  beautiful  clear  spring  of 
the  Aqua  Argentina,  which,  according  to  some  authorities,  is  the 
place  where  Castor  and  Pollux  watered  their  horses  after  the  battle 
of  the  Lake  Regillus. 

'Then  on  rode  those  strange  horsemen, 

With  slow  and  lordly  pace, 
And  none  who  saw  their  bearing 

Durst  ask  tlieir  name  or  race. 
On  rode  tliey  to  the  Forum, 

While  laurel  boughs  and  flowers 
From  house-tops  and  from  windows 

Fell  on  their  crests  in  showers. 

WTien  they  drew  nigh  to  Vesta, 

They  vaulted  down  amain, 
And  washeil  their  horses  in  the  well 

That  springs  by  Vesta's  fane. 
And  straight  again  they  mounted. 

And  rode  to  Vesta's  door  ; 
Then,  like  a  blast,  away  they  passed, 

And  no  man  saw  them  more.' 

— Macaiilay's  '  Lays.' 

The  alley  is  closed  by  an  arch  of  the  celebrated  Cloaca  Maxima, 
the  famous  drain  formed  by  Tarquinius  Prisons,  fifth  king  of  Rome, 
to  dry  the  marshy  land  of  the  Velabrum. 


1  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  21.  -  Ampere,  iii.  48.  ^  Vitruvius,  iii.  3. 


S.  Giorgio  in  Velabro  167 

'  Inflnia  urbis  loca  circa  Forum,  aliasque  interjectas  coUibus  convalles,  quia 
ex  planis  locis  baud  facile  evehebant  aquas,  cloacis  a  fastigio  in  Tiberim  ductis 
siccat.' — Livy,  lib.  i.  c.  38. 

The  Cloaca — '  receptaculuin  omnium  purgamentonim  urbis' — • 
extended  from  the  Forum  to  the  Tiber,  and  i.s  still,  after  2400 
years,  used,  during  the  latter  part  of  its  course,  for  the  purpose  for 
which  it  was  originally  intended,  though  Pliny  was  filled  with 
wonder  that  in  his  time  it  had  already  withstood  the  earthquakes, 
inundations,  and  accidents  of  seven  hundred  years.  Strabo  tells 
that  the  tunnel  of  the  Cloaca  was  of  sufficient  height  to  admit  a 
waggon  laden  with  hay,  but  this  probably  supposes  the  water  at  its 
lowest.  Agrippa,  who  cleaned  out  the  Cloaca,  navigated  its  whole 
length  in  a  boat.  Twenty-five  centuries  old,  it  still  answers  its 
purpose  perfectly.  The  mouth  of  the  Cloaca,  composed  of  three 
concentric  courses  of  blocks  of  peperino,  without  cement,  was  till 
recently  visible  on  the  river  a  little  to  the  right  of  the  Temple  of 
Vesta,  and,  united  with  the  little  temple  and  an  adjoining  garden, 
formed  a  picturesque  scene  of  exquisite  beauty.  Now  only  a  hole 
in  the  hideous  masonry  which  lines  the  river  indicates  the  mouth 
of  the  Cloaca,  close  to  the  modern  bridge. 

'  Ces  lieux  ont  encore  un  air  et  comma  une  odeur  de  marucage.  Quand  on  rode 
aux  approches  de  la  nuit  dans  ce  coin  desert  de  Rome  oii  fut  placee  la  sc6ne  des 
premiers  moments  de  son  premier  roi,  on  y  retrouve,  a  present  mieux  qu'au 
temps  de  Tite-Live,  quelque  chose  de  I'impression  que  ce  lieu  devait  produire  il 
y  a  vingt-cinq  siecles,  a  I'epoque  on,  selon  la  vieille  tradition,  le  bercean  de 
Komulus  s'arreta  dans  les  boues  du  Velabre,  au  pied  du  Palatin,  pr^s  de  I'antre 
Liipercal.  II  faut  s'^carter  un  pen  de  cet  endroit,  qui  etait  au  pied  du  versant 
occidental  du  Palatin,  et  faire  quelciues  pas  a  droite  pouraller  chercher  les  traces 
du  Velabre,  la  oil  les  rues  et  les  haljitations  modernes  ne  les  ont  pas  entierement 
effacees.  En  s'avan9ant  vers  la  Cloaca  Maxima,  on  rencontre  un  enfoncement 
oil  une  vieille  eglise,  elle-nieme  au  dedans  humide  et  moisie,  rappelle  par  son 
noni,  San  Giorgio  in  Velabro,  que  le  Velabre  a  ete  la.  On  voit  sourdre  encore 
les  eaux  qui  I'alimentaient  sous  une  voute  sombre  et  froide,  tapissee  de  mousses, 
de  scolopendres  et  de  grandes  herbes  frissonnant  dans  la  nuit.  Alentour,  tout  a 
un  aspect  triste  et  abandonne,  abandonne  comme  le  furent  au  bord  du  marais, 
suivant  I'antique  recit,  les  enfants  dont  on  croit  presque  ouir  dans  le  crepuscule 
les  vagissements.  L'imagination  n'a  pas  de  peine  a  se  representer  les  arbres  et 
les  plantes  aquatiques  qui  croissaient  sur  le  bord  de  cet  enfoncement  que  voilii, 
et  a  travers  lesquelles  la  louve  de  la  legende  se  glissait  a  cette  heure  pour  venir 
boire  k  cette  eau.  Ces  lieux  sont  assez  peu  frequentes  et  assez  silencieux  pour 
qu'on  se  les  figure  comme  ils  etaient  alors,  alors  qu'il  n'y  avait  ici,  comme  dit 
Tite-Live,  vrai  cette  fois,  que  des  solitudes  desertes  :  Vastae  tunc  solitudines 
erant.' — Ampere,  Hist.  Rom.  i.  271. 

The  church  with  the  picturesque  campanile  near  the  arch  of  Janus 
is  S.  Giorgio  in  Velabro,  founded  in  the  fourth  century  as  the  Basi- 
lica Sempronia,  but  repeatedly  rebuilt.  The  architrave  above  its 
portico  was  that  where  Rienzi  affixed  his  famous  inscription,  an- 
nouncing the  return  to  the  Good  Estate  :  '  In  breve  tempo  gli  Roniani 
torneranno  al  loro  antico  huono  stato.'  The  church  is  seldom  open, 
except  on  its  festival  (Jan.  20),  and  during  its  station  in  Lent.  The 
interior  is  in  the  basilica  form,  the  long  nave  being  lined  by  sixteen 
columns,  of  various  sizes,  and  with  strangely  different  capitals, 
showing  that  they  have  been  plundered  from  ancient  temples.     The 


1(58  Walks  in  Rome 

carving  on  some  of  tlie  capitals  is  sharp  and  delicate.  There  is 
rather  a  handsome  ancient  baldacchino,  with  an  old  Greek  picture 
let  into  its  front,  over  the  high  altar.  Beneath  is  preserved  a 
fragment  of  the  banner  of  S.  George.  Some  injured  frescoes  in  the 
tribune  replace  mosaics  which  once  existed  here,  and  which  were 
attributed  to  Giotto.  In  the  centre  is  the  Saviour,  between  the 
Virgin  and  S.  Peter  ;  on  one  side,  S.  George,  with  the  martyr's  palm 
and  the  warrior's  banner — on  the  other,  S.  Sebastian,  with  an  arrow. 
Several  fragments  of  carving  and  inscriptions  are  built  into  the  side 
walls.  The  pictures  are  poor  and  uglv  which  relate  to  the  saint  of 
the  church.  S.  George  (the  patron  of  England  and  Germany),  the 
knight  of  Cappadocia,  who  delivered  the  Princess  Cleodolinda  from 
the  dragon. 

'  Among  good  specimens  of  thirteenth-century  architecture  is  the  portico  of 
S.  Oiorgio,  with  Ionic  columns  and  horizontal  architrave,  on  which  is  a  gothic 
inscriiiticn,  in  quaint  Leonine  verse,  informing  us  that  the  Cardinal  (or  Prior) 
Steplieii,  added  this  detail  (probably  the  campanile  also)  to  the  ancient  church — 
about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  as  is  supposed,  though  no  date  is 
given  here  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  an  age  so  alien  to  classic  influences,  a  work  in 
which  classic  feeling  thus  predominates  is  remarkable.'— i7e7na?i«,  'Sacred  Art.' 

Partly  hidden  by  the  portico  of  this  church  is  the  beautiful  minia- 
ture Arch  of  Septimius  Severus — Arcus  Argentarius — erected  A.D.  204 
to  the  emperor,  his  wife  Julia  Pia,  and  his  sons  Caracalla  and  Geta, 
by  the  silversmiths  (argentarii)  who  had  their  shops  in  the  Forum 
Boarium  on  this  very  spot  ('  cujus  loci  qui  invehent ').  The  part  of 
the  dedication  relating  to  Geta  (as  in  the  larger  arch  of  Septimius) 
was  obliterated  after  his  murder,  and  the  words  Fortissimo  feli- 
CISSIMOQUE  PRINCIPI  engraved  in  its  place.  The  architecture  and 
sculpture,  part  of  which  represents  a  sacrifice  by  the  imperial  family, 
prove  the  decadence  of  art  at  this  period.  This  arch  formed  an 
entrance  from  the  Velabrum  into  the  Forum  Boarium.^ 

Proceeding  in  a  direct  line  from  the  arch  of  Janus,  we  reach  the 
Church  of  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  on  the  site  of  a  temple  of  Ceres, 
dedicated  by  the  consul  Spurius  Cassius,  B.C.  49.3,  and  afterwards 
re-dedicated  to  Ceres  and  Proserpine,  probably  by  Augustus,  who 
had  been  initiated  into  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  in  Greece.  The 
church  was  built  in  the  basilica  form  in  782  by  Adrian  I.,  when  the 
name  Cosmedin,  from  the  Greek  Koafios,  is  supposed  to  have  been 
given,  from  the  ornaments  with  which  he  adorned  it.  It  was  in- 
tended for  the  use  of  the  Greek  exiles  expelled  from  the  East  by  the 
iconoclasts  under  Constantine  Copronimus,  and  derived  the  epithet 
of  S.  Maria  in  Scuola  Greca,  from  a  '  Schola '  (or  office)  attached  to  it 
for  their  benefit.  Another  relic  of  the  Greek  colony  which  existed 
here  is  to  be  found  in  the  name  of  the  adjoining  street,  Via  della 
Greca.  In  the  Middle  Ages  the  whole  bank  of  the  river  near  this 
was  called  Ripa  Greca.  The  belfry  of  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin  is 
the  finest  of  mediaeval  Eome,  and  was  built  by  Adrian  I.  in  the 
eighth  century,  but  often  restored. 

1  Dionys.  i.  40. 


S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin  169 

The  interior  of  this  church  is  of  s^reat  interest.  Tiie  nave  is  divided 
from  the  aisles  by  twelve  ancient  marble  columns,  of  which  two  liave 
especially  curious  antique  capitals,  and  are  evidently  remains  of  the 
temple  which  once  existed  here.  The  choir  is  raised,  as  at  S. 
Clemente.  The  pavement,  the  joint  offering  of  many  parishioners, 
is  of  splendid  opus  alexandrinurn  (1120)  ;  the  ambones  ai-e  perfect ; 
there  is  a  curious  crypt ;  the  altar  covers  an  ancient  basin  of  red 
granite,  and  is  shaded  by  a  gothic  canopy,  supported  by  four  Egyptian 
granite  pillars  ;  behind  it  is  a  fine  episcopal  throne,  with  lions — said 
to  have  been  used  by  S.  Augustine — an  ancient  Greek  picture  of  the 
Virgin,  and  a  graceful  tabernacle  of  marble  inlaid  with  mosaic  by 
Deodato  Cosmati,  who  was  also  the  sculptor  of  the  paschal  candle- 
stick. In  the  sacristy  is  a  very  curious  mosaic — an  Adoration  of 
the  Magi — one  of  the  few  relics  preserved  from  the  old  S.  Peter's, 
A.D.  705.  (There  is  another  in  S.  Marco  at  Florence.)  Crescimbeni, 
the  founder  and  historian  of  the  Arcadian  Academy  (ob.  1728),  is 
buried  in  this  church,  of  which  he  was  a  canon.  On  S.  Valentine's 
Day  the  skull  of  S.  Valentine  is  exhibited  here  crowned  with  roses. 

In  the  portico  is  the  strange  and  huge  mask  of  stone — the  scare- 
crow of  children  who  show  an  inclination  to  lie — a  marble  disk  five 
feet  in  diameter,  probably  once  the  mouth  of  a  duct  for  rain-water, 
carved  with  the  face  of  the  god  Oceanus,  which  gives  the  name  of 
Bocca  della  Verita  to  the  neighbouring  piazza.  It  was  believed 
that  if  a  witness,  whose  truthfulness  was  doubted,  were  desired 
to  place  his  hand  in  the  mouth  of  this  mask,  it  would  bite  him 
if  he  were  guilty  of  perjury.  An  incredulous  Englishman,  who 
once  put  in  his  hand,  drew  it  back  with  a  cry  :  a  scorpion  had 
stung  him  ! 

'  Cette  Bouche-de-Verite  est  une  curieuse  relique  du  nioyen  age.  Elle  servait 
aiix  jugenients  de  Dieu.  FiRUiez-vous  une  nieule  de  moulin  qui  resseml)le,  non 
l)as  a  un  visage  humain,  mais  au  visage  de  la  lune ;  on  y  distingue  des  yeux.  un 
nez  et  une  bouche  ouverte  oil  I'accuse  mettait  la  main  pour  preter  serment.  Cette 
bouche  mordait  les  menteurs  ;  au  nioins  la  tradition  I'assure.  J'y  ai  introduit 
nia  dextre  en  disant  que  le  Ghetto  6tait  un  lieu  de  delices,  et  je  n'ai  pas  cte 
mordu.' — About,  'Rome  Contemporaine.' 

On  the  other  side  of  the  portico  is  the  tomb  of  Cardinal  Alfanus, 
ob.  1150. 

'  The  church  was  rebuilt  under  Calixtus  II.,  about  1128  A.D.,  by  Alfanus,  Eonian 
Chancellor,  whose  marlile  sepulchre  stands  in  the  atrium,  with  his  epitaph, 
along  a  cornice,  giving  him  that  most  comprehensive  title  "an  honest  man," 
vir probus.  Some  more  than  half-faded  paintings,  a  Madonna  and  Child,  angels, 
and  two  mitred  heads,  on  the  wall  behind  the  canopy  give  importance  to  this 
Chancellor's  tomb.  Though  now  disfigured  exteriorly  by  a  modern  fa9ade  in 
the  worst  style,  interiorly  by  a  waggon-vault  roof  and  heavy  pilasters,  this 
church  is  still  one  of  the  mediaeval  gems  of  Rome,  and  retains  many  olden 
details :  the  classic  colonnades,  probably  left  in  their  original  place  since  the 
time  of  Adrian  I.  ;  and  the  fine  campanile,  one  of  the  loftiest  in  Rome  ;  also  the 
sculptured  doorway,  the  rich  intarsi(5  pavement,  the  high  altar,  the  nuirble  and 
mosaic-inlaid  ambones,  the  marine  episcopal  throne,  with  supporting  lions  and 
mosaic  decorati<in  above,  &c.— all  of  the  twelfth  century.  But  we  have  to 
regret  the  destruction  of  the  ancient  choir-screens,  and  (still  more  inexcusable) 
the  whitewashing  of  wall  surfaces  so  as  to  entirely  conceal  the  mediaeval 


170  Walks  in  Rome 

paintings  which  adorned  thuni,  tonformaljly  to  that  once  ahiiost  universal 
practice  of  polyclironie  decoration  in  churches  prescribed  even  by  law  under 
Charlemagne.  Ciampini  (see  liis  valuable  history  of  this  basilica)  mentions  the 
iron  rods  for  curtains  between  the  columns  of  the  atrium,  and  those,  still  in 
their  place,  iu  the  porch,  with  rings  for  suspending;  also  a  small  chapel  with 
paintings,  at  one  end  of  the  atrium,  designed  for  those  penitents  who  were  not 
allowed  to  worship  within  the  sacred  huilding-as  such,  an  evidence  of  discip- 
linary observance,  retained  till  the  twelfth  century.  Over  the  portal  are  some 
tiny  bas-reliefs,  so  placed  along  the  inner  side  of  the  lintel  that  many  might 
pass  underneath  without  seeing  them  :  in  the  centre,  a  hand  blessing,  with  the 
Greek  action,  lietween  two  sheep,  laterally ;  the  four  evangelistic  emblems,  and 
two  doves,  each  pecking  out  of  a  vase,  and  one  perched  upon  a  dragon  (more 
like  a  lizard),  to  signify  the  victory  of  the  purified  soul  over  mundane  tempta- 
tions.'—//e»(a/ii(,  'Christian  Art.' 

Restorations  instituted  .since  1893  have  not  only  brought  to  light 
more  valuable  remains  of  the  temple  than  were  expected,  but, 
behind  the  church,  those  of  a  hall  of  the  IV.  c.  which  had  an  open 
colonnade  on  three  sides,  and  belonged  to  the  St<itio  Annunae — 
'  the  Loijyia  dci  Mcrcanti  of  ancient  Rome  ; '  also  the  original  Diaconia, 
'  believed  to  be  contemporary  with  the  reigns  of  Theodoric  and 
Athalaric'  ^ 

Between  the  apse  of  the  church  and  the  Circus  Maximus,  the 
remains  of  the  Temple  of  Hercules  and  the  Ara  Maxima  Herculis 
(the  oldest  altar  in  Rome)  were  discovered  during  the  reign  of 
Sixtus  IV.,  but  have  been  totally  destroyed. 

Close  to  the  church  stood  the  palace  of  Pope  Gelasius  II.  (1118). 

Opposite  the  church  is  an  exquisitely  proportioned  fountain, 
erected  by  Clement  XI.  (G.  F.  Albani).  c.  1718,  from  designs  of 
Carlo  Bizzaccheri  (now  scraped  and  modernised),  and  beyond  it 
the  graceful  round  temple  which  has  long  been  familiarly  called 
the  Temple  of  Vesta,  supposed  by  Canina  to  have  been  that  of 
Mater  Matuta,  and  by  others  to  have  been  the  Aemilian  Temple  of 
Hercules  alluded  to  by  Festus  and  mentioned  in  the  tenth  book  of 
Livy.  The  temple  was  rebuilt  by  Camillus  after  the  fall  of  Veii, 
but  the  existing  edifice,  which  is  known  to  have  existed  in  the  time 
of  Vespasian,  probably  dates  from  Augustus.  It  is  very  small,  the 
circumference  of  the  peristyle  being  only  156  feet,  and  that  of  the 
cella  26  feet — the  height  of  the  surrounding  Corinthian  columns 
(originally  twenty  in  number)  32  feet.  This  temple  was  first  dedi- 
cated as  a  church  under  the  name  of  S.  Stefano  delle  Carrozze  ; 
it  now  bears  the  name  of  S.  Maria  del  Sole.  The  overhanging  roof 
replaces  an  entablature  like  that  on  the  Temple  of  the  Sibyl  at 
Tivoli.     The  Augustan  temple  rests  on  the  old  republican  base. 

This  is  not  the  Temple  of  Vesta  (which  was  situated  in  the 
Forum)  of  which  Horace  wrote  : — 

'  Vidimus  flavum  Tiberim,  retortis 
Littore  Etrusco  violenter  undis. 
Ire  dejectum  monumenta  regis 

Templaque  Vestae.' 

— Carm.  i.  2. 


I  Lanclani,  '  The  Ruins  of  Ancient  Rome.' 


Temple  of  Fortuna  171 

'  C'est  auprfes  de  la  Bouche-de-V6rite,  devant  le  petit  temple  de  Vesta,  (lue  la 
justice  roniaine  execute  un  nieurtrier  sur  cent.  Quand  j'anivai  snr  la  place,  on 
n'y  guillotinait  persoiine ;  niais  six  cuisinicres,  dont  uiie  aussi  belle  que  Junon, 
dansaient  la  tarantelle  au  son  d'un  tambour  de  basque.  Malheureusenient  elles 
divinerent  ma  qualite  d'etranger,  et  elles  se  mirent  :l  polker  centre  la  mesure.' — 
Aboxtt. 

This  spot,  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  in  Rome  till  the  change  of 
Government,  has  been  more  ruthlessly  and  brutally  dealt  with  than 
any  other.  A  new  road  lined  with  the  popular  false  rockwork  leads 
past  the  temple  to  a  hideous  bridge,  and  beyond  the  river  rise  great 
box-like  buildings — utterly  abominable.  The  river  views,  where 
every  turn  was  a  poem  and  picture,  backed  by  huge  gasworks  and 
lined  by  modern  quays,  are  now  simply  revolting. 

Close  to  this — and  overhanging  what  was  till  recently  a  little 
hollow  way — is  the  Temple  of  Fortuna,  commonly  called  Fortuna 
Virilis,  built  originally  by  Servius  Tullius,  but  rebuilt  during  the 
republic,  and  if  the  existing  building  is  really  republican,  the  most 
ancient  temple  remaining  in  Rome.  It  is  surrounded  by  Doric 
pilasters  in  the  style  of  construction  which  Vitruvius  stigmatises 
under  the  name  of  pseudo-peripteral  (with  engaged  columns  at 
the  ends  and  along  the  sides),  28  feet  high,  clothed  with  hard 
stucco,  and  supporting  an  entablature  adorned  with  figures  of 
children,  oxen,  candelabra,  &c.  The  Roman  matrons  had  a  great 
regard  for  this  goddess,  who  was  supposed  to  have  the  power  of 
concealing  their  personal  imperfections  from  the  eyes  of  men.  At 
the  close  of  the  tenth  century  this  temple  was  consecrated  to  the 
Virgin,  but  has  since  been  bestowed  upon  S.  Mary  of  Egypt.  Its 
intercolumniations  were  walled  up  in  872,  when  it  was  first  con- 
verted into  a  church. 

Hard  by  is  a  picturesque  end  of  building,  laden  with  rich  but 
incongruous  sculpture,  at  one  time  called  '  The  House  of  Pilate,'^ 
but  now  known  as  the  House  of  Rienzi.  Chiefly  built  from  frag- 
ments of  marble  buildings  and  bas-reliefs,  it  is  a  curious  example 
of  an  early  appreciation  of  antiquities  and  wish  to  preserve  them. 
It  derives  its  present  name  from  a  long  inscription  over  a  doorway, 
which  tallies  with  the  bomba.stic  epithets  assumed  by  'The  Last  of 
the  Tribunes'  in  his  pompous  letter  of  August  1,  1347,  when,  in  his 
semi-madness,  he  summoned  kings  and  emperors  to  appear  before 
his  judgment-seat.     The  inscription  closes  : — 

'  Primus  de  primis  magnus  Nioolaus  ab  imis 
Erexit  patrum  decus  ob  renovare  suorum. 
Stat  patris  Crescens  matrisque  Theodora  nomen. 
Hoc  culmen  clarum  caro  de  pignore  gessit, 
Davidi  tribuit  qui  pater  exhibuit.' 

It  is  believed,  from  the  inscription,  that  the  house  was  fortified 
by  Nicola,  son  of  Crescentius  and  Theodora,  who  gave  it  to  David, 
his  son ;  that  the  Crescentius  alluded  to  was  son  of  the  famous 


1  It  was  thus  named  and  used  in  the  ancient  passion-plays  enacted  in  this 
quarter.  The  Locanda  della  Giaffa  in  the  Via  della  Bocca  della  Veritii  recalls 
the  '  House  of  Caiaphas.' 


172  Walks  in  Rome 

patrician  who  headed  the  populace  against  Otho  III.  ;  and  that, 
three  centuries  later,  the  house  may  have  belonged  to  Cola  di 
Kienzi,  a  name  which  is,  in  fact,  only  jiopular  language  for  Niccola 
Crescenzo.i  It  is,  however,  known  that  Kienzi  was  not  born  in 
this  house,  but  in  a  narrow  street  behind  8.  Tommaso,  in  the 
llione  alia  Regola,  where  his  father,  Lorenzo  Gabrini,  kept  an 
inn,  and  his  mother,  Maddalena,  gained  her  daily  bread  as  a 
washerwoman  and  watercarrier  —  so  were  the  Crescenzi  fallen! 
Near  the  back  of  this  house  was  the  early  river-gate  called  Porta 
Flumentana.- 

Here  is  the  approach,  by  an  nejly  modern  suspension-bridge,  to 
the  only  remnant  of  the  Ponte  Rotto.  On  this  site  was  the  Pons 
Aemilius,  begun  180  B.C.  by  M.  Aemilius  Lepidus  and  Marcus  Fulvius 
Nobilior,  and  iinished  by  P.  .Scipio  Africanus  and  L.  Mummius,  the 
censors,  in  142  B.C.  It  was  sometimes  called  the  Pons  Lapideus, 
as  being  then  the  only  stone  bridge  in  Rome.^  Hence  the  martyr 
brothers  Simplicius  and  Faustinus  were  thrown  into  the  Tiber  under 
Diocletian.  Hence  also  the  body  of  the  Emperor  Heliogabalus  was 
thrown  into  the  river.  The  bridge  has  been  three  times  rebuilt  by 
different  Popes,  but  two  of  its  arches  were  finally  carried  away  in 
an  inundation  of  1598.  The  recent  remains  (often  known  as  Ponte 
S.  Maria,  from  the  church  of  S.  Maria  Egiziaca),  which  only  dated 
from  the  time  of  Julius  III.,  on  which  the  two  quarters  of  the  Monte 
and  Trastevere  long  held  their  turbulent  meetings,  were  highly 
picturesque,  and  were  painted  formerly  by  every  artist  in  Rome  : 
thev  were  wantonly  destroyed— with  the  exception  of  a  single  arch 
—in  1887. 

'  Quand  on  a  etabli  un  pont  en  fil  de  fer,  on  lui  a  donni  pour  base  les  piles  du 
Ponte-Kotto,  61eve  an  moyen  age  sur  les  fondements  du  Pons  Palatinus,  qui  fut 
achieve  sous  la  censure  de  .Scipion  I'Africain.  Scipion  I'Africain  et  un  pont  en  fll 
de  fer,  voila  de  ces  contrastes  qu'on  ne  trouve  qu'a  Kome.' — Ampere,  Emp.  i.  209. 

From  this  bridge  was  the  exquisite  view  of  the  Isola  Tiberina 
and  its  bridges,  and  hence,  also,  the  .so-called  Temple  of  Vesta  was 
seen  to  great  advantage,  with  the  ancient  quay  of  the  Tiber — the 
koXt)  oLKTrj  of  Plutarch,  and  the  mouth  of  the  Cloaca  Maxima.  Both 
these  beautiful  views  have  been  utterly  ruined  since  the  Sardinian 
occupation. 

'  Quand  du  Ponte-Rotto  on  considere  le  triple  cintre  de  I'ouverture  par  laquelle 
la  Cloaca  Maxima  se  dechargeait  dans  le  Tibre,  on  a  devant  les  yenx  iin  monu- 
ment qui  rappelle  beaucoup  de  grandeur  et  beaucoup  d'oppression.  Ce  monument 
e.xtraordinaire  est  une  page  importante  de  I'histoire  romaine.  II  est  a  la  fois  la 
supreme  expression  de  la  puissance  des  rois  etiusques  et  le  signe  avant-coureur 
de  leur  chute.  L'on  croit  voir  I'arc  triomplial  de  la  royaute  par  oii  devait  entrer 
la  republique.' — Ampere,  Hist.  Hum.  ii.  '2o3. 

Beyond  the  Cloaca  Maxima  the  mouth  of  the  Cloaca  of  the  Circus 
Maximus  may  be  seen  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber.     Its  course 

1  The  tomb  of  Crescenzio  is  at  S.  Alessio ;   that  of  his  brother  Landolfo  at 
S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le  Mura. 
^  Cicero,  Ad  Att.  vii.  3  ;  Livy,  xxxv.  19,  21. 
•■'  Plut.  Num.  9. 


S.  Giovanni  Decollato  173 

has  been  discovered  through  the  valley  between  the  Palatine  and 
Coelian,  and  it  now  exceeds  the  Cloaca  Maxima  in  its  length,  the 
size  of  its  blocks,  and  the  perfection  of  its  masonry. 

Part  of  the  ancient  road,  paved  with  basalt,  which  led  to  the 
Pons  Aemilius,  may  be  seen  near  the  house  of  Crescentius.  In  the 
river  near  this  the  favourite  fish  lupus  used  to  be  caught  abundantly 
in  ancient  times,  inter  duos  pontes. 

In  the  bed  of  the  river  a  little  lower  down  might,  till  they  were 
wantonly  blown  up  in  1877,  be  seen  at  low  water  some  massive 
fragments  of  masonry.  Here  stood  the  Pons  Sublicius,  the  oldest 
bridge  in  Rome.i  built  by  Ancus  Martius  (G;;'.)  B.C.),  on  which 
Horatius  Codes  and  his  two  companions  '  kept  the  bridge '  against 
the  Etruscan  army  of  Lars  Porsenna,  till — 

'  B.ack  darted  Spurius  Lartius  ; 

Hermiiiius  darted  back : 
And,  as  they  passed,  beneath  their  feet 

They  felt  the  timbers  craclc. 
But  when  they  turned  their  faces. 

And  on  tlie  farther  shore 
Saw  brave  Horatius  stand  alone, 

They  would  have  crossed  once  more. 

But  with  a  crash  like  thunder 

Fell  every  loosened  beam. 
And,  like  a  dam,  the  mighty  wreck 

Lay  riuht  athwart  the  stream  : 
And  a  long  shout  of  triumph 

Rose  from  the  walls  of  Kome, 
As  to  the  highest  turret-tops 

Was  splashed  the  yellow  foam.' — Macaulay's  'Lays. 

The  name  '  Sublicius '  came  from  the  wooden  beams  used  in  the 
construction  of  the  bridge,  which  enabled  the  Romans  to  cut  it 
away.  It  was  rebuilt  by  Tiberius,  and  again  by  Antoninus  Pius, 
each  time  of  beams,  but  upon  stone  piers,  of  which  the  recent 
remains  were  fragments,  the  rest  having  been  destroyed  by  an 
inundation  in  the  time  of  Adrian  I. 

On  the  Trastevere  bank,  between  these  two  bridges,  half  hidden 
in  shrubs  and  ivy  (but  worth  examination  in  a  boat),  were  two 
gigantic  Heads  of  Lions,  to  which  in  ancient  times  chains  were 
fastened,  and  drawn  across  the  river  to  prevent  hostile  vessels  from 
passing.  The  lions  have  been  replaced  in  the  modern  masonry,  but 
are  stripped  of  all  their  former  dignity. 

Near  the  house  of  Rienzi  we  enter  the  Via  S.  Giovaimi  Decollato, 
decorated  with  numerous  heads  of  John  the  Baptist  in  the  dish, 
let  into  the  walls  over  the  doors  of  the  houses.  The  '  Confraternity, 
della  Misericordia  di  S.  Giovanni  Decollato,'  founded  in  1488, 
devote  themselves  to  criminals  condemned  to  death.  They  visit 
them  in  prison,  accompany  them  to  execution,  receive  their  bodies, 

1  Recent  archaeologists  have  thought  that  the  remains  might  only  be  tliose  of 
a  bridge  built  by  the  Emperor  Probus  c.  2S8  A.i>. 


174  Walks  in  Rome 

and  offer  masses  for  their  souls  in  their  little  chapel.  Michel- 
angelo was  a  member  of  this  Confraternita.  and  possibly  one  of 
those  who  bore  the  body  of  Beatrice  Cenci  to  her  ^rrave  in  S.  Pietro 
in  Montorio.  Vasari  gives  the  highest  praise  to  two  pictures  of 
Francesco  Salviati  in  the  church  of  S.  Giovanni  DecoUato,  'before 
which  all  Rome  stood  still  in  admiration,'  —  representing  the 
appearance  of  the  angel  to  Zacharias,  and  the  meeting  of  the 
Virgin  and  Elizabeth. 

On  the  left  is  the  Hospital  of  S.  Galla,  commemorating  the  pious 
foundation  of  a  Roman  matron  in  the  time  of  John  I.  (523-526), 
who  attained  such  celebrity  that  she  is  still  commemorated  in  the 
Roman  mass  by  the  prayer — 

'Almighty  and  merciful  God,  who  didst  adorn  the  blessed  Cialla  with  the 
virtue  of  a  wonderful  love  towards  Thy  poor ;  grant  us,  through  her  merits  and 
prayers,  to  practise  works  of  love,  and  to  obtain  Thy  mercy,  through  the  Lord, 
&c.    Amen.' 

On,  or  very  near  this  site,  stood  the  Porta  Carmentalis,  which, 
with  the  temple  beside  it,  commemorated  Carmenta,  the  supposed 
mother  of  Evander,  a  Sabine  prophetess,  who  is  made  by  Ovid  to 
predict  the  future  grandeur  of  Rome.^  Carmenta  was  especially 
invoked  by  women  in  childbirth.  The  Porta  Carmentalis  was 
reached  from  the  Forum  by  the  Vicus  Jugarius.  It  was  by  this 
route  that  the  Fabii  went  forth  to  meet  their  doom  in  the  valley 
of  the  Cremera.  The  Porta  had  two  gates — one  for  those  who 
entered,  the  other  for  those  who  left  it,  so  that  in  each  case  the 
passenger  passed  through  the  'Janus,'  as  it  was  called,  upon  his 
right.  After  the  massacre  of  the  Fabii,  the  road  by  which  they 
left  the  city  was  avoided,  and  the  Janus  Carmentalis  on  the  right 
was  closed,  and  called  the  Porta  Scelerata. 

'  Carmentis  portae  dextro  est  via  proxima  Jano, 
Ire  per  hanc  uoli,  quisquis  es  ;  omen  habet.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  ii.  201. 

We  now  reach  (left)  the  Chiirch  of  S.  Nicolo  in  Carcere.  It  has 
a  mean  front,  with  an  inscription  in  honour  of  one  of  the  Aldo- 
brandini  family,  and  is  only  interesting  as  occupying  the  site  of 
the  three  Temples  of  Juno  Sospita,  Spes,  and  another,  perhaps  of 
Apollo  Medicus,-  wliich  are  believed  to  mark  the  site  of  the  Forum 
Olitorium.  The  vaults  beneath  the  church  contain  the  massive 
substructions  of  these  temples  and  fragments  of  their  columns. 

The  central  temple  is  believed  by  some  to  be  that  of  Piety,  built 
by  M.  Acilius  Glabrio,  the  duumvir,  in  B.C.  165  (though  Pliny  says 
that  this  temple  was  on  the  site  afterwards  occupied  by  the  theatre 
of  Marcellus),  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow  made  by  his  father,  a  consul  of 
the  same  name,  on  the  day  of  his  defeating  the  forces  of  Antiochus 
the  Great,  king  of  Syria,  at  Thermopylae.     Others  endeavour  to 

1  Fasti,  i.  515. 
2  See  Llvy,  xl.  51,  where  this  temple  is  mentioned  as  'post  Spei  ad  Tiberim.' 


Piazza  Montanara  175 

identify  it  with  the  temple  built  on  the  site  of  the  Decemviral 
prisons,  to  keep  up  the  recollection  of  the  famous  story,  called  the 
'  Caritas  Romana' — of  a  woman  condemned  to  die  of  hunger  in 
prison  being  nourished  by  the  milk  of  her  own  daughter.  Pliny 
and  Valerius  Maximus  tell  the  story  as  of  a  mother  ;  Festus  only 
speaks  of  a  father  ;  ^  yet  art  and  poetry  have  always  followed  the 
latter  legend.  A  cell  is  shown,  by  torchlight,  as  the  scene  of  this 
touching  incident. 

'There  is  a  dungeon,  in  whose  dim  drear  light 
What  do  I  gaze  on  V    Nothing.     Look  again  ! 
Two  forms  are  slowly  shadowed  on  my  sight — 
Two  insulated  phantoms  of  the  brain  : 
It  is  not  so  ;  I  see  tliem  full  and  plain— 
An  old  man,  and  a  female  young  and  fair, 
Fresh  as  a  nursing  mother,  in  whose  vein 
The  blood  is  nectar — but  what  doth  she  there, 
With  her  unmantled  neck  and  bosom  white  and  bare  ? 

But  here  yo\ith  offers  to  old  age  the  food. 
The  milk  of  his  own  gift :— it  is  her  sire, 
To  whom  she  renders  back  the  debt  of  blood 
Born  with  her  birth.     No,  he  shall  not  e.xpire 
While  in  those  warm  and  lovely  veins  the  fire 
Of  health  and  holy  feeling  can  provide 
Great  Nature's  Nile,  whose  deep  stream  rises  higher 
Than  Egypt's  river ;  from  that  gentle  side 
Drink,  drink,  and  live,  old  man !  Heaven's  realm  holds  no  such  tide. 

The  starry  falile  of  the  milky-way 
Has  not  thy  story's  purity  ;  it  is 
A  constellation  of  a  sweeter  ray, 
And  sacred  Nature  triumphs  more  in  this 
Reverse  of  her  decree  than  in  the  abyss 
Where  sparkle  distant  worlds  : — Oh,  holiest  nurse  ! 
No  drop  of  that  clear  stream  its  way  shall  miss 
To  thy  sire's  heart,  replenishing  its  source 
With  life,  as  our  freed  souls  rejoin  the  universe.' 

—Childe  Harold. 

A  memorial  of  this  story  of  a  prison  is  preserved  in  the  name  of 
the  church — S.  Nicolo  in  Carcere.  It  was  probably  owing  to  this 
legend  that,  in  front  of  the  Temple  of  Piety,  was  placed  the 
Columna  Lactaria,  where  infants  were  exposed,  in  the  hope  that 
some  one  would  take  pity  upon  and  nurse  them  out  of  charity. 
The  pedestal  of  a  statue  was  found  in  the  tiny  piazza  in  front  of 
the  church  in  1808,  and  is  believed  to  have  been  that  of  the  eques- 
trian statue  of  M.  Acilius  Glabrio  mentioned  by  Livy. 

A  wide  opening  out  of  the  street  near  this,  with  a  pretty  foun- 
tain, is  called  the  Piazza  Montanara,  and  is  one  of  the  places  where 
the  country  people  collect  and  wait  for  hire. 

'  Le  dimanche  est  le  jour  oil  les  paysans  arrivent  b.  Kome.  Ceux  qui  cherchent 
Teniploi  de  leurs  bras  viennent  se  louer  aux  marchands  de  campagne,  c'est-a-dire 
aux  fermiers.    Ceux  qui  sont  louiSs  et  qui  travaillent  hors  des  murs  viennent 


1  Plin.  H.  N.  vii.  36 ;  Val.  Max.  v.  4-7 ;  Festus,  p.  609. 


176  Walks  in  Rome 

faire  leiirs  affaires  et  renouveler  leurs  provisions.  lis  entrent  en  ville  an  petit 
jour,  apros  avoir  niarcho  une  bonne  partie  de  la  nuit.  Chaque  faniille  aniune  un 
Ane,  (lui  porte  le  l)ay;aj;e.  lloninies,  femmes,  et  enfants,  poussant  leur  ilne  devant 
eux,  s'etaldissent  dans  \u\  coin  de  la  place  Farnfcse,  on  de  la  place  Montanara. 
Les  bontiiinos  voisines  restent  ouvertes  jusiju'i'i  niidi,  par  un  privilege  special. 
On  va,  on  vient,  on  achete,  on  s'accroupit  dans  les  coins  pour  compter  les  pieces 
de  cuivre.  Cependant  les  anes  se  reposent  sur  leurs  quatre  pieds  a>i  bord  des 
fontaines.  Les  femmes,  vetues  d'un  corset  en  cuirasse,  d'un  tablier  rouge,  et 
d'une  veste  ray6e,  encadrent  leur  figure  hilee  dans  une  draperie  de  linge  ires 
blanc.  Elles  sont  toutes  a  peindre  sans  exception ;  quand  ce  n'est  pas  pour  la 
beaute  de  leurs  traits,  c'est  pour  I'eWgance  naive  de  leurs  attitudes.  Les  honimes 
ont  le  long  nianteau  bleu  de  ciel  et  le  chapeau  pointn  ;  la-dessous  leurs  habits 
de  travail  font  merveille,  quoique  roussis  par  le  temps  et  couleur  de  perdrix. 
Le  costume  n'est  pas  uniforme ;  on  voit  plus  d'un  manteau  amadou  rapicce  de 
bleu  vif  on  de  rouge  garance.  Le  chapeau  de  paille  al)oiide  en  ete.  La  chaussure 
est  trus  capricieuse ;  Soulier,  botte  et  sandale  foulent  successivenient  le  pavd. 
Les  dechausses  trouvent  ici  prcs  de  grandes  et  profondes  Ijoutiqties  ou  Ton  vend 
des  marchandises  d'occasion.  II  y  a  des  souliers  de  tout  cuir  et  de  tout  age  dans 
ces  tresors  de  la  chaussure ;  on  y  trouverait  des  cothurnes  de  I'an  500  de  la 
r^publique  en  cherchant  bien.  Je  viens  de  voir  un  pauvre  diable  qui  essayait 
une  paire  de  bottes  i^  revers.  Elles  vont  i  ses  jamljes  comme  une  plume  a  I'oreille 
d'un  pore,  et  c'est  plaisir  de  voir  la  grimace  qu'il  fait  chaque  fois  qu'il  pose  le 
pied  a  terre.  Mais  le  marchand  le  fortifie  par  de  bonnes  paroles  :  "  Ne  crains 
rien,"  lui  dit-il,  "tu  soutfriras  pendant  cin(i  ou  six  jours,  et  puis  tu  n'y  penseras 
plus."  Un  autre  marchand  d^bite  des  clous  a  la  livre  :  le  chaland  les  enfonce 
lui-nieme  dans  ses  semelles  ;  il  y  a  des  bancs  ad  hoc.  Le  long  des  niurs,  cinq  ou 
six  cliaises  de  paille  servent  de  boutique  a  autant  de  barbiers  en  plein  vent.  II 
en  coute  un  sou  pour  abattre  une  barbe  de  huit  jours.  Le  patient,  barbouille  de 
savon,  regarde  le  ciel  d'un  ceil  resigmS ;  le  barbier  lui  tire  le  nez,  lui  met  les  doigts 
dans  la  bouche,  s'interrompt  pour  aiguiser  le  rasoir  sur  un  cuir  attach^  au 
dossier  de  la  chaise,  ovi  pour  ^corner  une  galette  noire  qui  pend  au  mur.  Cepen- 
dant I'optiration  est  faite  en  un  tour  de  main  :  le  rase  se  Ifeve  et  sa  place  est  prise. 
II  pourrait  aller  se  laver  i\  la  fontaine,  niais  il  trouve  plus  simple  de  s'essuyer  du 
revers  de  sa  manche 

'  Les  ecrivains  publics  alternent  avec  les  barbiers.  On  leur  apporte  les  lettres 
qu'on  a  re?ues ;  ils  les  lisent  et  font  la  reponse  :  total,  trois  sous.  Des  qu'un 
paysan  s'approche  de  la  table  pour  dieter  quelque  chose,  cinq  ou  six  curieux  se 
r^unissent  officieusenient  autourde  lui  pour  mieux  entendre.  II  y  a  une  certaine 
bonhomie  dans  cette  indiscretion.  Chacun  place  son  mot,  chacun  donne  un 
conseil :  "  Tu  devrais  dire  ceci." — "  Non  ;  dis  plutot  cela." — "  Laissez-le  parler," 
crie  un  troisieme,  "11  salt  mieux  que  vous  ce  qu'il  veut  faire  6crire." 

'  Quelques  voitures  chargees  de  galettes  d'orge  et  de  mais  circulent  au  milieu 
de  la  foule.  Un  marchand  de  limonade,  arme  d'une  pince  de  liois,  ecrase  les 
citrons  dans  les  verres.  L'homme  sobre  boit  a  la  fontaine  en  faisant  un  aqueduc 
des  bords  de  son  chapeau.  Le  gourmet  achiite  des  viandes  d'occasion  devant  un 
petit  etalage,  ou  les  rebuts  de  cuisine  se  vendent  a  la  poign^e.  Pour  un  sou,  le 
debitant  remplit  de  bceuf  hache  et  d'os  de  cotelettes  un  morceau  de  vieux  journal ; 
ime  pincee  de  sel  ajoutee  sur  le  tout  pare  agreablement  la  denree.  L'acheteur 
marchande,  non  sur  le  prix,  qui  est  invariable,  mais  sur  la  quantity  ;  il  prend  au 
tas  quelques  bribes  de  viande,  et  on  Is  laisse  faire  ;  car  rien  ne  se  conclut  ii  Rome 
sans  marchander. 

'  Les  ermites  et  les  moines  passent  de  groupe  en  groupe  en  quetant  pour  les 
ames  du  purgatoire.  M'est  avis  que  ces  pauvres  ouvriers  font  leur  purgatoire  en 
ce  monde  ;  et  qu'il  vatulrait  mieux  leur  donner  de  I'argent  que  de  leur  en  de- 
mander  ;  ils  donnent  pourtant,  et  sans  se  faire  tirer  I'oreille. 

'  Quelquefois  un  beau  parleur  s'amuse  a  raconter  une  histoire  ;  on  fait  cercle 
autour  de  lui,  et  a  niesure  que  I'auditoire  augmente  il  61eve  la  voix.  J'ai  vu  de 
ces  conteurs  qui  avaient  la  physionomie  bien  fine  et  liien  heureuse ;  mais  je  ne 
sais  rien  de  charmant  comme  I'attention  de  leur  public.  Les  peintres  du 
(luinzieme  siecle  ont  du  prendre  i  la  place  Jlontanara  les  disciples  qu'ils 
groupaient  autour  du  Christ.' — About,  'Home  ContewiMraine.' 

Under  a  little  inn — Albergo  della  Catena — remains  of  a  Temple 
of  Apollo  have  been  discovered. 


Palazzo  Savelli  177 

An  opening  on  the  left  discloses  the  vast  substructions  of  the 
Theatre  of  Marcellus.  This  huge  edifice  seems  to  have  been  pro- 
jected by  Julius  Caesai',  but  he  probably  made  little  progress  in  it. 
it  was  actually  erected  by  Augustus  (probably  on  tlie  site  of  an 
earlier  Theatre  of  Metellus,  B.C.  149),  and  dedicated  (c.  13  B.C.)  in 
memory  of  the  young  nephew  whom  he  married  to  his  daughter 
Julia,  and  intended  as  his  successor,  but  who  was  cut  off  by  an 
early  death.  The  theatre  was  capable  of  containing  20,000  spec- 
tators, and  consisted  of  three  tiers  of  arches  ;  but  the  upper  range 
has  disappeared,  and  the  lower  is  very  imperfect.  Still  it  is  a  grand 
remnant,  and  rises  magnificently  above  the  paltry  houses  which  sur- 
round it.  The  perfect  proportions  of  its  Doric  and  Ionic  columns 
served  as  models  to  Palladio. 

'  Le  mur  ext^rieur  du  portique  demi-circulaire  qui  enveloppait  les  gradins  offre 
encore  <i  notre  admiration  deux  etages  d'arceaux  at  de  colonnes  doriques  et 
ioniques  d'une  beaute  presque  grecque.  L'etage  suptJrieur,  qui  devait  etre  eoriii- 
tliien,  a  disparu.  Les  fornices,  ou  voutes  du  rez-de-cliaussee,  soiit  liabitiies 
encore  aujourd'hul  comrae  elles  I'etaient  dans  I'antiqiiite,  niais  plus  honnetement, 
par  de  pauvres  gens  qui  vendent  des  ferrailles.  Au-dessous  des  belles  colonnes 
de  I'enceinte  exterieure,  on  a  construit  des  maisons  niodernes  dans  lesquelles 
sont  pratiquees  des  fenetres,  et  a  ces  fenetres  du  theatre  de  Marcellus,  on  voit 
des  pots  :\  tleurs,  ni  plus  ni  nioins  qu'a  une  mansarde  de  la  rue  Saint-Denis  ;  des 
chemises  s^chent  sur  I'entablenient ;  des  cheminees  surmontent  la  ruine  romaine, 
et  un  grand  tube  se  dessine  ;\  lextremite. 

'  Dans  les  jeux  c^lebres  a  I'occasion  de  la  dedicace  du  theatre  de  Marcellus,  ou 
vit  pour  la  premiere  fois  un  tigre  apprivoise,  tigrim  mansuefactum.  Dans  ce 
tigre  le  peuple  romaine  pouvait  contempler  son  image.' — Ampere,  Emp.  1.  256. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  this  theatre  was  the  fortress  of  the  great 
family  of  Pierleoni,  the  rivals  of  the  Frangipani,  who  occupied  the 
Coliseum  ;  their  name  is  commemorated  by  the  neighbouring  street, 
Via  Porta  Leone.  The  constant  warfare  in  which  they  were  engaged 
with  their  neighbours  did  much  to  destroy  the  building,  whose  in- 
terior became  reduced  to  a  mass  of  ruins,  forming  a  hill,  upon  which 
Baldassare  Peruzzi  (1526)  built  the  Palazzo  Savelli,  of  which  the  en- 
trance, flanked  by  the  two  armorial  bears  of  the  family,  may  be  seen 
in  the  street  (Via  Savelli)  which  leads  to  the  Ponte  Quattro  Capi. 

'  Au  dix-septieme  siecle,  les  Savelli  exerQaient  encore  une  jurisdiction  feodale. 
Leur  tribunal,  aussi  regiilierementcf)nstitue  que  pas  un,  s'appelait  Uorte  Savella.* 
lis  avaient  le  droit  d'arracher  tons  les  ans  un  criniinel  k  la  peine  de  mort :  droit 
de  grace,  droit  r^galien  reconnu  par  la  monarchic  absolue  des  papes.  Les  femmes 
de  cette  illustre  famille  ne  sortaient  point  de  leurs  palais  sinon  dans  un  carrosse 
bien  ferme.  Les  Orsini  et  les  Colonna  se  van  talent  que,  pendant  leg  giecles,  aucun 
traite  de  paix  n'avait  et6  conclu  entre  les  princes  Chretiens,  dans  lequel  ils 
n'eussent  et6  nominativement  compris.' — Abuiit. 

The  palace  has  now  passed  to  the  family  of  Orsini  Gravina,  who 
descend  from  a  senator  of  A.D.  1200.  The  princes  of  Orsini  and 
Colonna,  in  their  quality  as  attendants  on  the  throne  (principi 
assistenti  al  soglio),  take  precedence  of  all  other  Roman  nobles. 

1  Beatrice  and  Lucrezia  Cenci  were  imprisoned  in  the  Corte  Savella,  and  led 
thence  to  execution. 

VOL.  I.  M 


178  Walks  in  Rome 

'  Nicolovius  will  remember  the  Theatre  of  Marcellus,  in  which  the  Savelli 
family  built  a  palace.  My  house  is  half  of  it.  It  has  stood  empty  for  a  consider- 
able lime,  because  the  drive  into  the  courtyard  (the  interior  of  the  ancient 
theatre)  rises  like  the  slope  of  a  mountain  upon  the  heaps  of  rubbish  ;  although 
the  road  has  been  cut  in  a  zig-zag,  it  is  still  a  brealv-neck  affair.  There  is 
another  entrance  from  the  Piazza  Montanara,  whence  a  flight  of  seventy- three 
steps  leaiis  up  to  the  same  storey  I  have  mentioned  ;  the  entrance-hall  of  which  is 
on  a  level  with  the  top  of  the  carriage-way  through  the  courtyard.  The  apart- 
ments in  wliieh  we  shall  live  are  those  over  the  colonnade  of  Ionic  pillars, 
forming  the  third  storey  of  the  ancient  theatre,  and  some,  on  a  level  with  them, 
wliicli  have  been  built  out  like  wings  on  the  rubl)ish  of  the  ruins.  These  enclose 
a  little  (juadrangular  garden,  which  is  indeed  very  small,  only  about  eighty  or 
ninety  feet  long,  and  scarcely  so  broad,  but  so  delightful !  It  contains  three 
fomitains — an  abundance  of  flowers  :  there  are  orange-trees  on  the  wall  between 
the  windows,  and  jessamine  under  them.  We  mean  to  plant  a  vine  liesides. 
From  this  storey,  you  ascend  forty  steps,  or  more,  higher,  where  I  mean  to  have 
my  own  study,  and  there  are  most  cheerful  little  rooms,  from  which  you  have  a 
prospect  over  the  whole  country  beyond  tlie  Tiber,  Monte  Mario  and  S.  Peter's, 
and  can  see  over  S.  Pietro  in  Montorio,  indeed  almost  as  far  as  the  Aventine.  It 
would,  I  think,  lie  possilile  besides  to  erect  a  loggia  upon  the  roof  (for  which  I 
shall  save  money  from  other  thinrjs),  tliat  we  may  have  a  view  over  the  Capitol, 
Korum,  Palatine,  Coliseum,  and  all  the  inhabited  parts  of  the  city.' — JSicbvhr'x 
Letters. 

Following  the  wall  of  the  theatre  down  a  filthy  street,  we  arrive 
at  the  picturesque  group  of  ruins  of  the  Porticus  Liviae  et  Octaviae, 
erected  by  Augustus  in  honour  of  his  wife  and  his  sister  (the 
unhappy  wife  of  Antony),  close  to  the  theatre  to  which  he  had 
given  the  name  of  her  son.i  The  exact  form  of  the  building  is 
known  from  the  Pianta  Capitolina — that  it  was  a  parallelogram, 
surrounded  by  a  double  arcade  of  270  columns,  and  enclosing  the 
temples  of  Jupiter  Stator  and  Juno  Regina,  built  by  the  Greek 
architects,  Batrachos  and  Sauraos." 

With  regard  to  these  temples,  Pliny  narrates  a  fact  which  reminds 
one  of  the  story  of  the  Madonna  of  S.  Maria  Nuova.^  The  porters 
having  carelessly  carried  the  statues  of  the  gods  to  the  wrong 
temples,  it  w-as  imagined  that  they  had  done  so  from  divine  inspira- 
tion, and  the  people  would  not  venture  to  remove  them,  so  that 
the  statues  always  remained  in  the  wrong  temples,  though  their 
surroundings  were  utterly  unsuitable. 

The  Portico  of  Octavia,  built  by  Augustus,  occupied  the  site  of 
an  earlier  portico — the  Porticus  Metelli — built  by  A.  Caecilius 
Metellus,  after  his  triumph  over  Andriscus  in  Macedonia,  in  B.C. 
146.  Temples  of  Jupiter  Stator  and  Juno  existed  also  in  this 
portico,  one  of  them  being  the  earliest  temple  built  of  marble  in 
Rome.  Before  these  temples  Metellus  placed  the  famous  group 
of  twenty-five  bronze  statues,  which  he  had  brought  from  Greece, 
executed  by  Lysippus  for  Alexander  the  Great,  and  representing 
that  conqueror  himself  and  twenty-four  horsemen  of  his  troop  who 
had  fallen  at  the  Granicus.* 


1  Suet.  Aug.  29;  Ovid,  Art.  i.  69  and  iii.  391. 

2  See  the  account  of  the  Basilica  of  S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le  Mura. 
a  See  Chap.  IV.,  and  Pliny,  Hint.  A'at.  xxxvi.  4. 

*  See  Dyer's  '  City  of  Home. ' 


The  Pescheria  179 

The  existing  fragment  of  the  portico  is  the  original  entrance 
to  the  whole.  The  building  had  suffered  from  fire  in  the  reign  of 
Titus,  and  was  restored  by  Septituius  Severus,  and  of  this  time 
is  the  large  brick  arch  on  one  side  of  the  ruin. 

'It  was  in  this  hall  of  Octavia  that  Titus  and  Vespasian  celebrated  their 
triumph  over  Israel  with  festive  pomp  and  splendour.  Among  the  .Jewish 
spectators  stood  the  historian  Flavins  Josephus,  who  was  one  of  the  followers 
and  flatterers  of  Titus  .  .  .  and  to  this  base. lewish  courtier  we  owe  a  description 
of  the  triumph.' — Gregorovius,  '  Wandcrjahre  in  Italiea.' 

Within  the  portico  is  the  Church  of  S.  Angelo  in  Pescheria.  Here 
it  was  that  Cola  Rienzi  summoned  at  midnight — May  20,  1347— all 
good  citizens  to  hold  a  meeting  for  the  re-establishment  of  '  the 
Good  Estate '  ;  here  he  kept  the  vigil  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  hence 
be  went  forth,  bareheaded,  in  complete  armour,  accompanied  by 
the  papal  legate,  and  attended  by  a  vast  multitude,  to  the  Capitol, 
■where  he  called  upon  the  populace  to  ratify  the  Good  Estate. 

It  is  said  that  one  of  the  causes  which  most  incited  the  indigna- 
tion of  Rienzi  against  the  assumption  and  pride  of  the  Roman 
families  was  the  fact  of  their  painting  their  arms  on  the  ancient 
Roman  buildings,  and  thus  in  a  manner  appropriating  them  to  their 
own  glory.  Remains  of  coats  of  arms  thus  painted  may  be  seen 
on  the  front  wall  of  the  Portico  of  Octavia.  It  was  also  on  this  very 
wall  that  Rienzi  painted  his  famous  allegorical  picture.  In  this 
painting  kings  and  men  of  the  people  were  seen  burning  in  a 
furnace,  with  a  woman  half-consumed,  who  personified  Rome — and 
on  the  right  was  a  church,  whence  issued  a  white-robed  angel, 
bearing  in  one  hand  a  naked  sword,  while  with  the  other  he  plucked 
the  woman  from  the  flames.  On  the  church  tower  were  SS.  Peter 
and  Paul,  crying  to  the  angel,  '  Aquilo,  aquilo,  succurri  a  1'  alber- 
gatrice  nostra' — and  beyond  this  were  represented  falcons  (typical 
of  the  Roman  barons)  falling  from  heaven  into  the  flames,  and  a 
white  dove  bearing  a  wreatli  of  olive,  which  it  gave  to  a  little  bird 
(Rienzi),  which  was  chased  by  the  falcons.  Beneath  was  inscribed 
'  I  see  the  time  of  great  justice  ;  do  thou  await  that  time.' 

'  Then  turn  we  to  her  latest  trilinne's  name, 
From  her  ten  thousand  tyrants  turn  to  thee, 
Redeemer  of  dark  centuries  of  shame — 
The  friend  of  Petrarch— hope  of  Italy — 
Rienzi !  last  of  Romans  !    While  the  tree 
Of  Freedom's  wither'd  trunk  puts  forth  a  leaf, 
Even  for  thy  toml)  a  garland  let  it  be — 
The  Forum's  champion  and  the  people's  chief — 
Her  new-born  Numa  thou— with  reign,  alas  !  too  brief.' 

—Childe  Harold. 

Through  the  brick  arch  of  the  Portico  we  used  (till  1888)  to  enter 
upon  the  ancient  Pescheria,  with  the  marble  fish-slabs  of  imperial 
times  still  remaining  in  use.  It  was  a  most  striking  scene — the 
dark,  many-storied  houses  almost  meeting  overhead  and  framing 
a  narrow  strip  of  deep  blue  sky — below,  the  bright  groups  of  figures 
and  rich  colouring  of  hanging  cloths  and  drapery.     That  this  most 


180  Walks  in  Rome 

historic  and  picturesque  scene  should  not  have  been  spared  in  the 
recent  destruction  of  Home  is  inconceivable. 

'  C'est  line  des  ruines  les  plus  remarquablcs  de  Rome,  et  une  de  celles  (|ui 
offreiit  ces  cuntrastcs  piciuauts  eiitre  le  passe  etle  present,  amusement  perpiituel 
de  I'imaginatioii  dans  la  ville  des  contrastes.  Le  portiqiie  d'Uctavie  est, 
aujoind'liui,  le  marche  aux  poissons.  Les  colonnes  et  le  fronton  s'ulevent  au 
milieu  de  1  endioit  le  plus  sale  de  Konie  ;  leur  eJfet  n'en  est  pas  moins  pittores- 
(jue,  il  lest  peutetre  davantafxe.  Le  lieu  est  fait  pour  une  aquarelle,  et  quand 
un  beau  soleil  eclaire  les  debris  antiques,  les  vieux  murs  soniljres  de  la  rue 
etroite  oil  le  i)oisson  se  vend  siir  des  tallies  de  marlire  blanc,  et  ii  travels 
laquelle  des  nattes  sont  tendues,  on  a,  ii  cute  du  monument  romain,  le  spectacle 
d'un  marche  du  moyen  age,  et  un  peu  le  souvenir  dun  bazar  d'Orient.'— ^-mpere, 
Emp.  i.  179. 

On  the  demolition  of  the  streets  to  the  north-west  of  the  Portico 
of  Octavia,  it  was  expected  that  some  remains  of  the  Temple  of 
Hercules  Musarum  and  of  the  Porticus  Philippi  would  be  discovered, 
but  nothing  more  than  fragments  of  walls  was  found. 

'  Who  that  has  ever  been  to  Rome  does  not  remember  Roman  streets  of  an 
evening,  when  tlie  day's  work  is  done  ?  Tliey  are  all  alive  in  a  serene  and  home- 
like fasl'iion.  The  old  town  tells  its  story.  Low  arches  cluster  with  life— a  life 
humble  and  stately,  though  rags  hang  from  the  citizens  :uid  the  windows.  You 
realise  it  as  you  pass  them-  their  temples  are  in  ruins,  their  rule  is  over— their 
colonies  have  revolted  long  centuries  ago.  Their  gates  and  their  columns  have 
fallen  like  the  trees  of  a  forest,  cut  down  by  an  invading  civilisation.'— Jtfm- 
Thackeray. 


Here  we  are  in  the  centre  of  what  was  the  Jews'  quarter — the 
famous  Ghetto,  which  has  been  swept  away  under  modern  'im- 
provements' of  1885-87. 

The  history  of  a  nation  has  perished  with  'the  Ghetto.'  The 
name  is  derived  from  the  Hebrew  word  chat,  broken,  destroyed, 
shaven,  cut  down,  cast  off,  abandoned  (see  the  Hebrew  in  Isaiah 
xiv.  12,  XV.  2  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  25,  27  ;  Zech.  xi.  10-14,  &c.).  The  first 
Jewish  slaves  were  brought  to  Rome  by  Pompey  the  Great,  after 
he  had  taken  Jerusalem  and  forcibly  entered  the  Holy  of  Holies. 
But  for  centuries  after  this  they  lived  in  Rome  in  wealth  and 
honour,  their  princes  Herod  and  Agrippa  being  received  with 
royal  distinction,  and  finding  a  home  in  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars 
— in  which  Berenice  (or  Veronica),  the  daughter  of  Agrippa,  pre- 
sided as  the  acknowledged  mistress  of  Titus,  who  would  willingly 
have  made  her  empress  of  Rome.  The  chief  Jewish  settlement 
in  imperial  times  was  nearly  on  the  site  of  their  after  abode, 
but  they  were  not  compelled  to  live  here,  and  also  had  a  large 
colony  in  the  Trastevere  ;  and  when  S.  Peter  was  at  Rome  (if 
the  Church  tradition  be  true),  he  dwelt,  with  Aquila  and  Priscilla, 
on  the  slopes  of  the  Aventine.  Julius,  Augustus,  and  Tiberius 
Caesar  treated  the  Jews  with  kindness,  but  under  Caligula  they 
already  met  with  ill-treatment  and  contempt — that  emperor  being 
especially  irritated  against  them  as  the  only  nation  which  refused 
to  yield  him  divine  honours,  and  because  they  had  successfully 
resisted  the  placing  of  his  statue  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  at  Jeru- 


The  Ghetto  181 

salem.  On  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  thousands  of 
Jewish  slaves  were  brought  to  Rome,  and  were  employed  on  the 
building  of  the  Coliseum.  At  the  same  time  Vespasian,  while 
allowing  the  Hebrews  in  Rome  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion, 
obliged  tliem  to  pay  the  tax  of  half  a  shekel,  formerly  paid  into 
the  Temple  treasury,  to  Jupiter  Capitolinus — and  this  custom  is 
still  kept  up  in  the  annual  tribute  paid  by  the  Jews  in  the  Camera 
Capitolina. 

Under  Domitian  the  Jews  were  banished  from  the  city  to  the 
valley  of  Egeria,  where  they  lived  in  a  state  of  poverty  and  out- 
lawry, which  is  described  by  Juvenal, ^  and  occupied  themselves 
with  soothsaying,  love-charms,  magic  potions,  and  mysterious 
cures.- 

During  the  reigns  of  the  earlier  Popes,  the  Jews  at  Rome  enjoyed 
a  great  amount  of  liberty,  and  the  anti-Pope  Anacletus  II.  (ob.  1138) 
was  even  the  grandson  of  a  baptized  Jew,  whose  family  bore  a 
leading  pai't  in  Rome  as  one  of  the  great  patrician  houses.  The 
clemency  with  which  the  Jews  were  regarded  was,  however,  partly 
due  to  their  skill  as  physicians  ;  and  long  after  their  persecutions 
had  begun  (as  late  as  Martin  V.,  1417-Hl),  the  physician  of  the 
Vatican  was  a  Jew.  The  first  really  bitter  enemy  of  the  Jews 
was  Eugenius  IV.  (Gabriele  Condolmiere,  14?)l-ol)),  who  forbade 
Christians  to  trade,  to  eat,  or  to  dwell  with  them,  and  prohibited 
them  from  walking  in  the  streets,  from  building  new  synagogues, 
or  from  occupying  any  public  post.  Paul  II.  (1468)  increased  their 
humiliation  by  compelling  them  to  run  races  during  the  Carnival, 
as  the  horses  ran,  till  the  change  of  Government,  amidst  the  hoots 
of  the  populace.  This  custom  continued  for  two  hundred  years. 
Sprenger's  'Roma  Nuova,'  of  1667,  mentions  that  'the  asses  ran 
first,  then  the  Jews — naked,  with  only  a  band  round  their  loins — 
then  the  buffaloes,  then  the  Barbary  horses.'  It  was  Clement  IX. 
(Rospigliosi),  in  166S,  who  first  permitted  the  Jews  to  pay  a  sum 
equivalent  to  1500  francs  annually  instead  of  racing. 

'  On  the  first  Saturday  in  Carnival,  it  was  the  custom  for  the  heads  of  the  Jews 
in  Rome  to  appear  as  a  deputation  before  the  Conservators  in  the  Capitol. 
Throwing  themselves  upon  their  knees,  they  offered  a  nosegay  and  twenty 
scndi,  with  the  request  that  this  might  be  employed  to  ornament  the  balcony 
in  which  the  Roman  Senate  sat  in  the  Piazza  del  Popolo.  In  like  manner  they 
went  to  the  senator,  and,  after  the  ancient  custom,  implored  permission  to 
remain  in  Rome.  The  senator  placed  his  foot  upon  their  foreheads,  ordered 
them  to  stand  up,  and  replied  in  the  accustomed  formula,  that  Jews  were  not 
adopted  in  Rome,  but  allowed  from  compassion  to  remain  there.  This  humilia- 
tion has  now  disappeared,  but  the  Jews  still  go  to  the  Capitol  on  the  first 
Saturday  of  Carnival,  to  offer  their  homage  and  tribute  for  the  imllii  of  the 
horses,  which  they  have  to  provide,  in  memory  that  now  the  horses  amuse  the 
people  in  their  stead.' — Gregorovius,  '  Wanderjahrc' 

The  Jews  were  first  shut  up  within  the  walls  of  the  Ghetto  by  the 
fanatical  Dominican  Pope,  Paul  IV.  (Gio.  Pietro  Caraffa,  1555-59), 
and  commanded  never  to  appear  outside  it,  unless  the  men  were 

1  Sat.  iii.  •-  Sat.  .\:vi. 


182  Walks  in  Rome 

in  yellow  hats  or  the  women  in  yellow  veils.     '  For,'  says  the  Bull 
'Cum  niniis ' — 

'  It  is  most  absiiicl  ;inil  unsuitable  that  the  Jews,  whose  own  crime  has  phinged 
thuni  into  everhistiui;  slavery,  uinler  the  plea  that  Christian  niasnaniniity  allows 
tluni.  sliDuM  prisunie  to  dwell  and  mix  with  Christians,  not  bearing  any  mark  of 
distinction,  and  should  have  Christian  servants,  yea,  even  buy  houses.' 

The  Ghetto,  or  Vicus  Judaeorum,  as  it  was  at  first  called,  was  shut 
in  by  walls  which  reached  from  the  Ponte  Qiiattro  Capi  to  the  Piazza 
del  Pianto,  or  '  Place  of  Weeping,'  whose  name  bears  a  witness  to 
the  grief  of  the  people  on  the  25th  July  155G,  when  they  were  first 
forced  into  their  prison-house. 

'Those  Jews  who  were  shut  up  in  the  Ghetto  were  placed  in  pcssession  of  the 
dwellings  of  others.  The  houses  in  that  quarter  were  the  ])roperty  of  Romans, 
and  some  of  them  were  inhabited  l)y  families  of  consideration,  such  as  the 
Uiiccapaduli.  When  these  removed,  they  remained  the  proprietors  and  the  Jews 
oidy  tenants.  But  as  they  were  to  live  for  ever  in  these  streets,  it  was  necessary 
that  the  Jews  should  have  a  perpetual  lease  to  defend  them  against  a  twofold 
dan^'er— negligence  on  the  part  of  the  owner  to  announce  to  his  Jewish  tenant 
when  his  possession  expired,  or  bankruptcy  if  the  owner  raised  his  rent.  Thus 
originated  a  law  which  established  that  the  Romans  should  remain  in  possession 
of  the  dwellings  let  to  the  Jews,  but  that  the  latter  should  hold  the  houses  in 
fee-farm  ;  that  is,  the  expiration  of  the  contract  cannot  be  announced  to  a 
Jewish  tenant,  and  so  long  as  he  pays  the  lawful  rent,  the  rent  can  never  be 
raised  ;  the  .Tew  at  the  same  time  may  alter  or  enlarge  his  house  as  he  chooses. 
This  still  existing  privilege  is  called  the  Jus  Gazzaga.  By  virtue  of  it  a  Jew  is 
iTi  hereditary  i)ossession  of  the  lease,  and  can  sell  it  to  his  relations  or  others, 
and  to  the  present  day  it  is  a  costly  fortune  to  he  in  possession  of  a  Jus  Gazzaga, 
or  an  hereditary  lease.  IIi,i;lily  extolled  is  the  Jewish  maiden  who  brings  her 
bridegroom  such  a  dowry.  Through  this  salutary  law  the  Jew  became  possessed 
of  a  home,  which  to  some  extent  he  may  call  his  own.'— Grer/orovius. 

The  Jews  were  kindly  treated  by  Sixtus  V.,  on  the  plea  that 
they  were  'the  family  from  whom  Christ  came,'  and  he  allowed 
them  to  practise  many  kinds  of  trades,  and  to  have  intercourse  with 
Christians,  and  to  build  houses,  libraries,  and  synagogues  ;  but  his 
mild  laws  were  all  repealed  by  Clement  VIII.  (Aldobrandini,  1592- 
1G05),  and  under  Clement  XI.  and  Innocent  XIII.  all  trade  was 
forbidden  them,  except  that  in  old  clothes,  rags,  and  iron,  'stracci 
ferracci.'  To  these  Benedict  XIV.  (Lambertini)  added  trade  in 
drapery,  with  which  they  are  still  largely  occupied.  Under 
Gregory  XIII.  (Buoncompagni,  1572-85)  the  Jews  were  forced  to 
hear  a  sermon  every  week  in  the  church,  first  of  S.  Benedetto  alia 
Regola,  then  in  S.  Angelo  in  Pescheria  ;  and  every  Sabbath  police- 
agents  were  sent  into  the  Ghetto  to  drive  men,  women,  and  children 
into  the  church  with  scourges,  and  to  lash  them  while  there  if  they 
appeared  to  be  inattentive. 

'  Now  was  come  about  Holy  Cross  Day,  and  now  must  my  lord  preach  his  first 
sermon  to  the  Jews  :  as  it  was  of  old  cared  for  in  the  merciful  bowels  of  the 
(Hnu'ch,  that,  so  to  speak,  a  crumb  at  least  from  her  conspicuous  table  here  in 
Rome  sliouUl  be,  though  but  once  yearly,  cast  to  the  famishing  dogs,  under- 
trampled  and  bespitten  upon  beneath  the  feet  of  the  guests  ;  and  a  moving 
sight  in  truth  this,  of  so  many  of  the  besotted,  blind,  restive,  and  ready-to- 
perish  Hebrews!  now  maternally  brought— nay  (for  He  saith,  "Compel  them 
to  come  in"),  haled,  as  it  were,  liy  the  head  and  hair,  and  against  their  ob- 
stinate hearts,  to  partake  of  the  heavenly  grace.  .  .  .' — Diary  by  the  Bishop's 
Secretary,  IGUU. 


The  Ghetto  183 

' Though  what  the  Jews  really  said,  on  thus  being  cliivou  to  ehurcli,  was  ratlier 
to  this  effect  :— 

'  Groan  all  together  now,  whee-hee-hee  ! 
It's  a-work,  it's  a-work,  ah,  woe  is  me  ! 
It  began,  when  a  herd  of  us.  picked  and  place<], 
Were  spurred  through  the  Corso,  stripped  to  the  waist ; 
Jew-brutes  with  sweat  and  blood  well  spent 
To  usher  in  worthily  Christian  Lent. 

It  grew  when  the  hangman  entered  our  bounds. 

Yelled,  pricked  us  out  to  his  church  like  hounds. 

It  gilt  to  a  pitch  when  the  hand  indeed 

Which  gutted  my  purse  would  throttle  my  creed. 

And  it  overflows  when,  to  even  the  odd. 

Men  I  helped  to  their  sins  help  me  to  their  God.' 

—  A'.  B.  Broivninij,  '  Holy  Cross  Day. ' 

This  custom  of  compelling  Jews  to  listen  to  Christian  sermons 
was  renewed  by  Leo  XII.,  and  was  only  abolished  in  the  early 
years  of  Pius  IX. ^  The  walls  of  the  Ghetto  also  remained,  and  its 
gates  were  closed  at  niuht  until  the  reign  of  the  same  Pope,  who 
removed  the  limits  of  the  Ghetto,  and  revoked  all  the  oppressive 
laws  against  the  Jews.  The  humane  feeling  with  which  he  re- 
garded this  hitherto  oppressed  race  is  said  to  have  been  first  evinced 
when,  on  the  occasion  of  his  placing  a  liberal  alms  in  the  hands 
of  a  beggar,  one  of  his  attendants  interposed,  saying,  'It  is  a 
Jew  ! '  and  the  Pope  replied,  '  What  does  that  matter  ?  It  is  a 
man.' 

Opposite  the  gate  of  the  Ghetto  near  the  Ponte  Quattro  Capi,  a 
converted  Jew  erected  a  still  existing  church,  with  a  painting  of 
the  Crucifixion  on  its  outside  wall  (upon  which  every  Jew  must 
look  as  he  came  out  of  the  Ghetto),  and  underneath  an  inscription 
in  large  letters  of  Hebrew  and  Latin  from  Isaiah  Ixv.  2  :  'All  day 
long  I  have  stretched  out  my  hands  to  a  disobedient  and  gain- 
saying people.'  The  lower  streets  of  the  Ghetto,  especially  the 
Fiumara,  which  was  nearest  the  bank  of  the  Tiber,  were  annually 
overflowed  during  the  spring  rains  and  melting  of  the  mountain 
snows,  which  was  productive  of  great  misery  and  distress.  Yet  in 
spite  of  this,  and  of  the  teeming  population  crowded  into  narrow 
alleys,  the  mortality  was  less  here  during  the  cholera  than  in  any 
other  part  of  Rome,  and  malaria  has  been  unknown  here — a  free- 
dom from  disease  which  may  perhaps  be  attributed  to  the  Jewish 
custom  of  whitewashing  their  dwellings  at  every  festival.  There 
was  no  Jewish  hospital,  and  if  the  Jews  went  to  an  ordinary 
hospital,  they  must  submit  to  a  crucifix  being  hung  over  their 
beds.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  very  centre  of  the  Jewish  settle- 
ment should  be  the  Portico  of  Octavia,  in  which  Vespasian  and 
Titus  celebrated  their  triumph  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  Here 
and  there  in  the  narrow  alleys  the  seven-branched  candlestick 
might  be  seen  carved  on  the  house  walls,  a  yet  living  symbol  of 
the  Jewish  religion. 

1  It  was  Michelangelo  Caetani,  Duke  of  Sermoneta,  who,  in  1848,  obtained  from 
Pius  IX.  that  the  Jews  should  not  be  forced  to  hear  sermons. 


18}  Walks  in  Rome 

Kverytliinp  niiirht  bo  obtained  in  the  Glietto  :  precious  stones, 
1.1CC,  furniture  of  all  kinds,  rich  embroidery  from  Algiers  and  Con- 
stantinople, strijted  stufTs  from  Spain— but  all  was  concealed  and 
un<itT  cover.  '  Cosa  cercate  ? '  the  Jew  shopkeepers  hissed  at  you 
as  YOU  threaded  their  narrow  alleys,  and  tried  to  entice  you  in  to 
bargain  with  them.  The  same  article  was  often  passed  on  by  a 
mutual  arrangement  from  shop  to  shop,  and  met  you  wherever 
you  went.  On  Friday  evening  all  shops  were  shut,  and  bread  was 
baked  for  the  Sabbath  ;  all  merchandise  was  removed,  and  the  men 
went  to  the  synagogue  and  wished  each  other  '  a  good  Sabbath  '  on 
their  return.' 

In  the  IMazza  della  Scuola  are  five  schools  under  one  rooi—gli 
sroli  ilcfjli  ebrei- -the  Scuola  del  Tenipio,  Catilana,  Castigliana, 
Siciliana,  and  the  Scuola  Nuova,  which  show  that  the  Roman 
Ghetto  was  divided  into  five  districts  or  parishes,  each  of  which 
represented  a  particular  race,  according  to  the  prevailing  nationality 
of  the  Jews,  whose  fathers  have  been  either  Roman-Jewish  from 
ancient  times,  or  have  been  brought  hither  from  Spain  and  Sicily  ; 
the  Temple  district  was  said  above  all  others  to  assert  its  descent 
from  the  Jews  of  Titus.  In  the  same  piazza  is  the  chief  synagogue, 
richly  adorned  with  sculpture  and  gilding.  On  the  external  frieze 
are  represented  in  stucco  the  seven-branched  candlestick,  David's 
harp,  and  Miriam's  timbrel.  The  interior  is  highly  picturesque 
and  quaint,  and  is  hung  with  curious  tapestries  on  festas.  The 
frieze  which  surrounds  it  represents  the  temple  of  Solomon  with  all 
its  sacred  vessels.  A  round  window  in  the  north  wall,  divided  into 
twelve  panes  of  coloured  glass,  is  symbolical  of  the  twelve  tribes 
of  Israel,  and  a  type  of  the  Urim  and  Tluimmim.  '  To  the  west  is 
the  round  choir,  a  wooden  de.sk  for  singers  and  precentors.  Oppo- 
site, in  the  eastern  wall,  is  the  Holy  of  Holies  with  projecting  staves 
(as  if  for  the  carrying  of  the  ark)  resting  on  Corinthian  columns. 
It  is  covered  by  a  curtain,  on  which  texts  and  various  devices 
of  roses  and  tasteful  arabesques  in  the  style  of  Solomon's  temple 
are  embroidered  in  gold.  The  seven-branched  candlestick  crowns 
the  whole.  In  this  Holy  of^Holies  lies  the  sealed  Pentateuch,  a 
large  parchment  roll.  This  is  borne  in  procession  through  the  hall 
and  exhibited  from  the  desk  towards  all  the  points  of  the  compass, 
whereat  the  Jews  raise  their  arms  and  utter  a  cry.' 

'On  etiterincr  the  Ghetto,  we  see  Israel  hefore  its  tents,  in  full  restless  labour 
anil  activity.  The  people  sit  in  their  duoi'ways.  or  outside  in  the  streets,  which 
receive  hardly  more  litrht  than  the  damp  and  f;lr)omy  chambers,  and  frrub  amid 
their  old  trumpery,  or  patch  and  sew  dilipently.  It  is  inexpressilile  what  a 
chaos  of  shreds  and  patches  (called  cenci  in  Italian)  is  here  accumulated.  The 
whole  world  seems  to  be  lyin;;  about  in  countless  rags  and  scraps,  as  Jewish 
plunder.  The  fragments  lie  in  heaps  before  the  doors,  they  are  of  every  kind  and 
colour— gold  fringes,  scraps  of  silk  brocade,  bits  of  velvet,  red  patches,  blue 


•  See  Dr.  Philip's  article  on  'The  Jews  in  Rome,'  alsoEttore  Natali,  'II  Ghetto 
di  Horn  a,'  1887. 

'^  Formerly  there  were  schools  jn  Rome  of  Lombards,  Greeks,  Frisians,  and 
Sa^Fons. 


Piazza  della  Giudecca  185 

patches,  orange,  yellow,  black  and  white,  torn,  old,  slashed  and  tattered  pieces, 
large  and  small.  I  never  saw  such  varied  rubbish.  The  Jews  might  mend  up 
all  creation  with  it,  and  patch  the  whole  world  as  gaily  as  harlequin's  coat. 
There  they  sit  and  grub  in  their  sea  of  rags,  as  though  seeking  for  treasures,  at 
least  for  a  lost  gold  brocade.  For  they  are  as  good  antiquarians  as  any  of  those 
in  Rome  who  grovel  amongst  the  rnins  to  l)ring  to  light  tlie  stump  of  a  column, 
a  fragment  of  relief,  an  ancient  inscription,  a  coin,  or  such  matters.  Each 
Hebrew  Winckelmann  in  the  Ghetto  lays  out  his  rags  for  sale  with  a  certain 
pride,  as  does  the  dealer  in  marble  fragments.  The  latter  boasts  a  piece  of 
giallo-antico — the  Jew  can  match  it  with  an  excellent  fragment  of  yellow  silk  ; 
porphyry  here  is  represented  by  a  piece  of  dark  red  damask,  verde-antico  a 
handsome  patch  of  ancient  green  velvet.  And  there  is  neither  jasper,  nor 
alabaster,  black  marble  or  white,  or  parti-coloured,  which  the  Ghetto  anti- 
quarian is  not  al)le  to  match.  The  history  of  every  fashion  from  Herod  the  Great 
to  the  invention  of  paletots,  and  of  every  mode  of  the  highest  as  well  as  of  the 
lower  classes  may  be  collected  from  these  fragments,  some  of  which  are  really 
historical,  and  may  once  have  adorned  the  persons  of  Romulus,  Scipio,  Africanus. 
Hannibal,  Cornelia,  Augustus,  Charlemagne,  Pericles,  Cleopatra,  Barbarossa, 
Gregory  VII.,  Columbus,  and  so  forth. 

'  Here  sit  the  daughters  of  Zion  on  these  heaps,  and  sew  all  that  is  capable  of 
being  sewn.  Great  is  their  boasted  skill  in  all  works  of  mending,  darning,  and 
fine-drawing,  and  it  is  said  that  even  the  most  formidable  rent  in  any  old 
drapery  or  garment  whatsoever  becomes  invisible  imder  the  hands  of  these 
Arachnes.  It  is  chiefly  in  the  Fiumara,  the  street  lying  lowest  and  nearest  to 
the  river,  and  in  the  street  corners  (one  of  which  is  called  Argumille,  i.e.,  of  un- 
leavened bread),  tliat  this  business  is  carried  on.  I  have  often  seen  with  a  feel- 
ing of  pain  the  pale,  stooping,  starving  figures,  laboriously  plying  the  needle — 
men  as  well  as  women,  giils  and  children.  Misery  stares  forth  from  the  tangled 
hair,  and  complains  silently  in  the  yellow-brown  faces,  and  no  beauty  of  feature 
recalls  the  countenance  of  Rachel,  Leah,  or  Miriam — only  sometimes  a  glance 
from  a  deep-sunk,  piercing  black  eye,  that  looks  up  from  its  needle  and  rags, 
and  seems  to  say — "  From  the  daughter  of  Zion  all  her  beauty  is  departed — she 
that  was  great  among  the  nations,  and  princess  among  the  provinces,  how  is  she 
become  tributary  !  She  weepeth  sore  in  the  night,  and  her  tears  are  on  her 
cheeks  ;  among  all  her  lovers  she  hath  none  to  comfort  her  :  all  her  friends  have 
dealt  treacherously  with  her,  they  are  liecome  her  enemies.  Judah  is  gone  into 
captivity,  because  of  affliction,  and  because  of  great  servitude  ;  she  dwelleth 
among  the  heathen,  she  findeth  no  rest  :  all  her  persecutors  overtook  her 
between  the  straits.  How  hath  the  Lord  covered  the  daughter  of  Zion  with  a 
cloud  in  His  anger  !  "  ' — Gregorovius,  '  Wanderjahre.'  i 

Opposite  what  was  the  northern  entrance  of  the  Ghetto  is  the 
church  of  S.  Maria  del  Pianto,  formerly  S.  Salvatore  in  Cacaberis 
(S.  Saviour  amongst  tlie  kettle-makers),  which  changed  its  name 
when  an  image  of  the  Virgin  on  an  adjoining  wall  shed  tears  on 
beholding  a  terrible  murder  committed  at  its  feet. 

The  narrow  street  which  was  a  continuation  of  the  Pescheria 
emerges  upon  the  small  square  called  Piazza  della  Giudecca.  In 
the  houses  on  the  right  may  be  seen  some  Tuscan  columns  and  part 
of  an  architrave,  being  the  only  visible  remains  of  the  Theatre  of 
Balbus,  erected  by  C.  Cornelius  Balbus,  a  general  who  triumphed 
in  the  time  of  Augustus,  with  the  spoils  taken  from  the  Garaniantes, 
a  people  of  Africa.  It  was  ojDened  in  the  same  year  as  the  Theatre 
of  Marcellus,  and  though  very  much  smaller,  was  capable  of  con- 
taining as  many  as  11,600  spectators.  The  statues  of  Castor  and 
Pollux,  at  the  head  of  the  Capitol  steps,  were  found  here  in  1556. 
At  the  back  of  the  theatre  were  famous  Crypta,  the  remains  of 

1  The  description  of  the  destroyed  Ghetto  has  been  left  in  this  volume,  as 
giving  an  interest  to  the  still  unused  site. 


18G  Walks  in  Rome 

which  have  been  recently  brought  to  liglit.     Tlie  marble  for  the 
fountain  in  the  piazza  was  plundered  from  the  Temple  of  the  Sun. 

T.»  the  left,  still  partly  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  theatre,  and 
extendiiijr  alone:  one  side  of  the  Piazza  delle  Scuole,  is  the  vast 
Palazzo  Cenci,  the  ancient  residence  of  the  famous  Cenci  family 
(now  represented  by  Count  Cenci  Bolognetti),  and  the  scene  of 
many  of  the  terrible  crimes  and  tragedies  which  stain  its  annals. 

'The  Ceiui  Palace  is  of  great  extent;  ami,  tlKiugh  in  part  modernised,  there 
yet  remains  a  vast  and  gloomy  pile  of  feudal  architecture  in  the  same  state  as 
during  the  dreadful  scenes  which  it  once  witnessed.  The  palace  is  situated  in 
an  iilpscure  corner  of  Rome,  near  the  quarter  of  the  Jews,  and  from  the  upper 
windows  you  see  the  immense  ruins  of  Mount  Palatine,  half  hidden  under  the 
profuse  undergrowth  of  trees.  There  is  a  court  in  one  part  of  the  palace  sup- 
ported hy  columns,  and  adorned  with  antique  friezes  of  tine  workmanship,  and 
huilt  up,  after  the  Italian  fashion,  with  balcony  over  balcony  of  open  work. 
One  of  the  gates  of  the  palace,  formed  of  immense  stones,  and  leading  through 
a  passage  dark  and  lofty,  ard  opening  into  gloomy  subterranean  chambers, 
struck  me  particularly.'— 5/i«!«e//'»  Preface  to  'The  Cenci.' 

Opposite  the  further  entrance  of  the  Palace  is  the  tiny  church 
of  S.  Tommaso  dei  Cenci,  formerly  (when  Rienzi  lived  near  it) 
S.  Tommaso  in  Capite  Molarum.  It  was  founded  in  1113  by  Cencio, 
Bishop  of  Sabina ;  granted  by  Julius  II.  to  Rocco  Cenci ; — and 
rebuilt  in  1575  by  the  wicked  Count  Cenci,  whose  .story  and  that  of 
his  unhappy  family  have  been  the  subject  of  a  thousand  romances. 
Only  very  recent  discoveries  have  stripped  the  terrible  facts  of  the 
veil  in  which  fiction  and  poetry  had  shrouded  them.^ 

In  1.5.56  a  certain  Monsignor  Cristofero  Cenci  became  treasurer-general  of  the 
Apostolic  Chamber.  He  was  not  a  priest,  but  a  clerk  (chierito),  that  is,  he  was 
not  able  to  say  mass  or  bound  to  celibacy,  though  he  possessed  those  inferior 
Orders  without  which  no  one  could  aspire  to  a  lucrative  office  at  the  Apostolic 
Court.  He  held  the  benefice  of  S.  Tommaso,  near  the  Cenci  palace,  where 
he  lived  in  concubinage  with  a  married  woman  named  Beatrice  Arias,  by 
whom,  during  the  lifetime  of  her  husband,  he  had  become  the  father  of  a  son — 
Francesco.  After  the  death  of  Beatrice's  husband,  Monsignor  Cenci  legitiniatised 
his  son  and  died  in  1562,  having  married  Beatrice  on  his  death-bed,  providing 
her  with  a  handsome  income,  begging  her  to  live  honeste  e  caste,  and  leaving 
Francesco  heir  of  his  great  riches. 

Francesco,  born  illegitimate  in  1549,  evinced  the  cruelty  of  his  disposition  from 
childhood.  At  eleven  years  old  he  was  tried  before  a  criminal  court  for  having 
beaten  '  usque  ad  sanguinem '  one  Quintilio  de  Vetralla.  At  fourteen,  he  was 
again  in  trouble  about  a  child  of  which  he  had  become  the  father.  In  1563,  he 
became  the  brutal  and  violent  husband  of  Ersilia,  daughter  of  Valerio  Santa 
Croce,  who  had  a  dowry  of  5000  crowns  from  her  uncle,  Prospero  Santa  Croce. 
During  her  wretched  married  life,  which  lasted  twenty-one  years,  she  gave  birth 
to  twelve  children,  of  whom  five  died  in  infancy.  Of  her  five  unhappy  sons, 
Giacomo  died  on  a  scaffold,  Sept.  10,  1.599;  Cristofero  was  murdered  by  one 
Paolo  Buono  Corso,  his  rival  in  a  love  affair ;  Rocco  was  killed  in  a  duel  in  1595 
by  an  illegitimate  son  of  Orsini,  Count  of  Pitigliano;  Bernardo,  always  delicate, 
died  a  natural  death  in  1627  ;  Paolo,  also  always  sickly  from  childhood,  died, 
probably  of  consumption,  in  1600.  Of  the  two  daughters,  the  elder,  Antonina, 
born  in  1573,  was  married,  with  a  dowry  of  20,000  crowns,  to  Luzio  Savelli,  of 
the  great  Roman  family,  and  died  early,  without  children. 

The  birth  of  the  younger  daughter,  Beatrice,  is  recorded  in  the  register  of  SS. 
Lorenzo  e  Damaso  :  '  On  Fel).  12,  1577,  Beatrice,  daughter  of  Francesco  Cenci  and 
his  wife  Ersilia,  of  the  parish  of  S.  Tommaso  dei  Cenci.' 2    Accounts  which  still 

'  See  'Francesco  Cenci  e  la  xiia  Famifilia,'  by  Bertolotti.    Firenze,  1877. 
2  Therefore  at  the  time  of  her  death  she  was  over  twenty-one. 


Palazzo  Cenci  187 

exist  show  tliat  Beatrice  kept  her  father's  house  till  1593,  in  which  year  Francesco 
Cenci  married  a^ain  with  Lucrezia  Petroni,  widow  of  a  man  named  Velli,  by 
whom  she  had  tliree  daughters,  to  each  of  whom  her  second  husband  gave  a 
dowry. 

Still  existing  records  prove  that  soon  after  his  first  marriage  the  crimes  of 
Francesco  Cenci  were  such  that  he  was  imprisfmed  permanently  in  his  own 
house.  From  this  imj^'isonment  he  was  relieved  in  1572,  and  was  banished  from 
the  Papal  States,  under  a  penalty  of  1(1,000  crowns  if  found  within  them.  Yet  in 
February  of  the  following  year  Cardinal  Caraffa  obtained  his  pardon  from  the 
Pope,  and  he  was  permitted  to  return.  In  1586  he  made  a  will,  providing  for  all 
his  family  except  his  eldest  son,  whom  he  disinherited.  In  1590  his  fortunes 
were  attacked  by  the  representatives  of  the  public  offices,  whom  his  father, 
Monsignor  Cenci,  was  proved  to  have  defrauded ;  but,  on  payment  of  25,000 
crowns  (in  addition  to  30,000  already  paid  with  the  same  object),  he  was  absolved 
from  all  further  public  del  it,  and  he  was  legitimatised  by  the  Pope,  as  if  he  had 
been  born  in  lawful  wedlock. 

The  domestic  cruelties  of  Francesco  Cenci  seemed  only  to  increase  after  the 
death  of  his  wife  Ersilia  in  1584.  His  mistress,  Maria  Pelli  of  Spoleto — 'La 
bella  Spoletina ' — brought  an  action  against  him  in  1503  for  his  extreme  cruelty. 
On  April  10, 1593,  his  man-servant,  Angelo  Belloni,  also  appeared  against  him  for 
his  excessive  violence  in  beating  him  and  shutting  him  up  naked  for  two  days. 
On  April  25,  1594,  one  Attilio  Angelini  appeared  against  Count  Cenci  for  the 
injuries  received  by  his  brother-in-law,  nearly  killed  by  his  violence.  On  March  9, 
1594,  also,  Cenci  was  summoned  before  the  criminal  magistrate  for  cruelty  and 
unnatural  crimes.  The  accusations  were  of  the  utmost  enormity,  but  in  that 
venal  age  a  pardon  was  secured  for  100,000  crowns — the  accusers  being  put  to 
the  torture,  but  adhering  to  their  story ;  the  accused,  being  noble,  escaping 
altogether. 

Meantime  the  character  of  Francesco  Cenci's  sons  did  not  stand  much  higher 
than  that  of  the  father.  Whilst  Count  Cenci  was  in  prison  in  1594,  his  eldest  son 
Giacomo  married  without  his  consent,  and  was  accused  of  embezzling  money 
which  belonged  to  his  father.  Cristofero,  the  second  son,  was  constantly  before 
the  criminal  courts.  The  third  son,  Rocco,  was  even  worse,  and,  after  being 
fined  5000  crowns  and  exiled  for  his  crimes,  made  his  way  back  to  rob  his  father's 
house  of  various  valuables,  for  which  he  was  tried  on  March  19,  1594.  In  this 
robbery  Monsignore  Mario  Guerra  (often  described  as  a  lover  of  Beatrice)  was 
the  accomplice  of  Rocco,  and  the  two  daughters  of  Count  Cenci  were  examined 
as  witnesses  against  him. 

In  the  night  of  September  9, 1598,  Count  Francesco  was  murdered  by  two  hired 
assassins  in  his  desolate  castle  of  Petrella,  where  he  was  in  the  habit  of  spending 
part  of  the  autumn.  One  of  the  murderers  held  a  nail  over  the  eye  of  his  victim, 
whilst  the  other  hammered  it  into  his  head.  The  body  was  then  thrown  from 
a  window  upon  the  branches  of  a  withered  tree,  in  the  hojae  that  he  might  be 
supposed  to  have  fallen  and  that  his  brain  had  been  pierced  by  accident.  The 
whole  family  immediately  left  Petrella,  Giacomo,  Bernardo,  and  Paolo  returning 
to  Rome  and  going  into  mourning  for  their  father.  Giacomo  at  this  time  ottered 
a  magnificent  altar-cloth  (as  an  expiatory  oflfering  ?)  to  the  church  of  S.  Maria 
del  Pianto  near  the  Cenci  palace.  Meantime  the  Government  put  a  price  upon 
the  heads  of  the  assassins.  One  of  these,  Olympio  Calvetti,  was  killed  (May  17, 
1599),  at  Cantllice,  near  Petrella,  Ijy  Marco  Tullio  and  Cesiire  Busone,  acting,  as 
documents  prove,  by  the  order  of  Monsignore  Mario  Guerra,  already  suspected 
of  complicity  in  the  murder,  who  hoped  thus  to  destroy  the  evidence  against 
himself.  The  other  assassin,  Marzio  Catalano,  was  taken  by  the  exertions  of 
one  Gaspare  Guizza,  and  a  curious  petition  (dated  1601)  exists,  by  which  Guizza 
claimed  a  reward  from  the  Pope  for  this  service,  by  which  'the  other  accomplices 
and  their  confessions  were  secured,  and  so  inccny  thoiisands  of  crowns  brought 
into  the  jxipal  treasury.'  In  fact,  the  confession  of  Catalano  led  to  the  arrest, 
on  December  10,  159S,  of  Lucrezia,  Giacomo,  Bernardo,  and  Beatrice  Cenci.  The 
speech  still  exists  by  which  Prospero  Farinaccio,  the  advocate  of  Beatrice,  allow- 
ing her  complicity  in  the  crime,  set  forward  as  her  defence  the  terrible  e.xcuse 
which  was  given  to  her  by  the  conduct  of  her  father,  already  well  known  as  a 
monster  of  lawless  cruelty  and  profligacy.  .  .  .  The  prisoners  were  allowed  to 
make  wills  in  prison,  and  the  curious  will  of  Beatrice  can  still  be  read,  by  which 
she  bequeathed  100  crowns  for  her  burial  in  S.  Pietro  in  Montorio,  3000  crowns 


188  Walks  in  Rome 

fur  liiiil.liiiK  the  wnll  wliith  supports  tlie  rmul  up  to  tlie  chuicli,  .iiitl  1750  to  other 
rhiin  lies  ami  {><i-  thi-  saviiii,'  of  masses  for  lier  soul  :  she  also  left  le},'aeie.s  to  the 
three  .lau^liters  of  her  stepmother,  Lucre/.ia.  Tlie  fearful  story  usually  told  of 
the  tortures  l>y  whicli  the  hist  eonfession  of  Beatrice  was  extorted  has.  doul)tless, 
lieeu  exatfu'enited  ;  hut  sympathy  will  always  follow  one  who  sinned  under  the 
must  terrilile  of  iirnvoeations.  and  whose  cruel  death  was  due  to  the  avarice  of 
Clement  VIII.  for  the  riches  wliich  the  Church  acquired  by  the  confiscation- of 
the  I'enci  property. 

'  He  who  cursed  his  sons  and  dauRhters,  and  laughed  for  joy  when  two  of  them 
were  murdered,  rebuilt  the  little  church  just  opposite,  as  a  burial-place  for  him- 
self and  them,  but  neither  he  nor  th(fy  were  laid  there.'— i^.  Marion  Crawford. 

Retracing  our  steps  to  the  Piazza  della  Giudecca,  and  turning  left 
down  a  narrow  alley,  which  is  always  busy  with  Jewish  traffic,  we 
reach  the  Piazza  delle  Tartarughe,  so  called  from  the  tortoises  which 
form  part  of  the  adornments  of  its  lovely  little  fountain — designed 
by  Giacomo  della  Porta,  the  four  figures  of  boys  being  by  Taddeo 
Landini. 

At  this  point  we  leave  the  site  of  the  Ghetto. 


Forming  one  side  of  the  Piazza  delle  Tartarughe  is  the  Palazzo 
Costaguti,  celebrated  for  its  six  splendid  ceilings  by  great  artists, 
viz.  : — 

1.  Albani.    Hercules  wounding  the  Centaur  Nessus. 

2.  Domenichiiuj.    Apollo  in  his  car.  Time  discovering  Truth,  d'c— much 

injured. 

3.  Guercino.    Rinaldo  and  Armida  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  dragons. 

4.  Cav.  d'  Arpino.     Juno  imrsing  Hercules,  Venus  and  Cupids. 
.").   Lanfrancii.    Justice  and  Peace. 

6.  Rovianelli.    Arion  saved  by  the  Dolphin. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  square  is  the  entrance,  marked  by  a  shield 
in  a  wreath,  of  a  neglected  palace  which  possesses  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  mediaeval  courtyards  in  the  city,  with  two  tiers  of 
arches. 

On  the  same  line,  at  the  end  of  the  street,  is  the  Palazzo  Mattel, 
built  by  Carlo  Maderno  (1615)  for  Duke  Asdrubal  Mattel,  on  the 
site  of  the  Circus  of  Flaminius.  The  small  courtyard  of  this  palace 
is  well  worth  examining,  and  is  one  of  the  handsomest  in  Rome, 
being  quite  encrusted,  as  well  as  the  staircase,  with  ancient  bas- 
reliefs,  busts,  and  other  sculptures.  It  contained  a  gallery  of  pictures 
which  have  been  dispersed.  The  rooms  have  frescoes  by  Pomcrancio, 
Lanfranco,  Pietro  da  Cortona,  Domenichino,  and  Albani.  The  decora- 
tions of  the  ball-room  are  of  great  beauty.  A  little  terrace,  laden 
with  sculptures,  where  a  fountain  is  overhung  by  arcades  of  banksia 
roses,  is  one  of  the  loveliest  spots  in  the  city. 

The  posts  and  rings  at  the  corner  of  the  streets  near  the  Mattel 
Palace  are  curious  relics  of  the  time  when  the  powerful  Mattel  family 
had  the  right  of  drawing  chains  across  the  streets  during  the  papal 
conclaves,  and  of  occupying  the  bridges  of  San  Sisto  and  Quattro 
Caf)i,  with  the  intervening  region  of  the  Ghetto. 

Behind  Palazzo  Mattei,  facing  the  Via  delle  Botteghe  Oscure,  is 


Churcli  of  S.  Maria  in  Campitelli  189 

the  vast  Palazzo  Caetani,  built  by  Cardinal  Alessandro  Mattei,  but, 
being  forfeited  to  the  Church  after  his  death  (for  cardinals  have 
only  lately  been  allowed  to  make  a  will,  on  payment  of  a  line  to  the 
Propaganda),  was  afterwards  sold,  and  became  the  property  of  the 
learned  Don  Michelangelo  Caetani  (Duke  of  Sermoneta  and  Prince 
of  Teano),  whose  family — one  of  the  most  distinguished  in  the 
mediaeval  history  of  Rome — gave  eight  cardinals  and  three  popes  to 
the  Church,  of  whom  the  most  celebrated  was  Boniface  VIII. 

'  Lo  principe  de'  nuovi  farisei.' 

— Dante,  Inferno,  xxvii. 

The  Caetani  claim  descent  from  Anatoliiis,  created  Count  of  Caeta 
by  Pope  Gregory  II.  in  780.  Among  the  historic  relics  preserved  in 
the  palace  is  the  sword  of  Cesare  Borgia. 

Close  to  the  Palazzo  Mattei  is  the  Church  of  S.  Caterina  de' 
Funari,  built  by  Giacomo  della  Porta  in  15(]?.,  adjoining  a  convent 
of  Augustinian  nuns.  The  streets  in  this  quarter  are  interesting 
as  bearing  witness  in  their  names  to  the  existence  of  the  Circus 
Flaminius,  the  especial  circus  of  the  plebs,  which  once  occupied 
all  the  ground  near  this.  The  Via  delle  Botteghe  Oscure  com- 
memorates the  dark  shops  which  in  mediaeval  times  occupied  the 
lower  part  of  the  circus,  as  they  do  now  that  of  the  Theatre  of 
Marcellus  :  the  Via  del  Funari,  the  ropemakers,  who  took  advantage 
for  their  work  of  the  light  and  open  space  which  the  interior  of 
the  deserted  circus  afforded.  The  remains  of  the  circus  existed 
to  the  sixteenth  century. 

Near  this,  turning  right,  is  the  Piazza  di  Campitelli,  which  con- 
tains the  Church  of  S.  Maria  in  Campitelli,  built  by  Rinaldi  for 
Alexander  VII.  in  1659,  upon  the  site  of  an  oratory  erected  by 
S.  Galla  in  the  time  of  John  I.  (523-6),  in  honour  of  the  Virgin, 
who  one  day  miraculously  appeared  imploring  her  charity,  in 
company  with  the  twelve  poor  women  to  whom  she  was  daily  in 
the  habit  of  giving  alms.  The  oratory  of  S.  Galla  was  called  S. 
Maria  in  Portico,  from  the  neighbouring  portico  of  Octavia,  a  name 
which  is  sometimes  applied  to  the  present  church.  A  likeness  of 
the  mendicant  Virgin,  as  she  appeared  to  S.  Galla,  in  gold  out- 
line on  a  sapphire,  is  now  enshrined  in  gold  and  lapis-lazuli  over 
the  high  altar,  and  is  supposed  to  protect  Rome  from  contagious 
diseases.  Other  relics  supposed  to  be  preserved  here  are  the 
bodies  of  S.  Cyriaca,  S.  Victoria,  and  S.  Vincenza,  and  half  that  of 
S.  Barbara  !  The  second  chapel  on  the  right  has  a  picture  of  the 
Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  by  Luca  Giordano ;  in  the  first  chapel 
on  the  left  is  the  tomb  of  Prince  Altieri,  inscribed  'Umbra,'  and 
that  of  his  wife,  Donna  Laura  di  Carpegna,  inscribed  'Nihil  ; '  they 
rest  on  lions  of  rosso-antico.  In  the  right  transept  is  the  tomb  by 
Pettrich  of  Cardinal  Pacca.  who  lived  in  the  Palazzo  Pacca,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  square,  and  was  tiie  faithful  friend  of  Pius  VII. 
in  his  exile.  The  bas-relief  on  the  tomb,  of  S.  Peter  delivered 
by  the  Angel,  is  in  allusion  to  the  deliverance  from  the  French 
captivity.     A  much-honoured  image  of  the  Virgin,  made  in  opus 


190  Walks  in  Rome 

sfclllf,  a  mosaic  of  precious  stones,  was  carried  off  from  this  church 
by  Paul  II.,  an  indefatigable  antiquity  collector,  to  his  private 
museum. 

The  name  Campitelli  (sometimes  described  as  a  corruption  ot 
Cajiitdian)  is  probably  derived  from  Campus  teli,  because  in  this 
neiiihbourbood  (see  Chap.  XIV.)  was  the  Columna  Bellica,  from 
whrch,  when  war  was  declared,  a  dart  was  thrown  into  a  plot  of 
ground,  representing  the  hostile  territory— perhaps  the  very  site  of 
this  church. 

In  the  street  behind  this,  leading  into  the  Via  di  Ara-Coeli,  are 
the  remains  of  the  ancient  Palazzo  Margana,  where  Ignatius 
Loyola  stayed  when  he  came  to  Ilome,  with  a  very  richly  sculptured 
gateway  of  c.  1350. 

Opening  from  hence  upon  the  left  is  the  Via  Tor  di  Specchi, 
whose  name  commemorates  the  legend  of  Virgil  as  a  necromancer, 
and  of  his  magic  tower  lined  with  mirrors,  in  which  all  the  secrets 
of  the  city  were  reflected  and  brought  to  light. 

Here  is"  the  famous  Convent  of  the  Tor  di  Specchi,  founded  by  S. 
Francesca  Romana,  and  open  to  the  public  during  the  octave  of  the 
anniversary  of  her  death  (following  the  9th  March).  At  this  time 
the  pavements  are  strewn  with  box,  the  halls  and  galleries  are  bright 
with  fresh  flowers,  and  guards  are  posted  at  the  different  turiiings 
to  facilitate  the  circulation  of  visitors.  It  is  a  beautiful  specimen 
of  a  Roman  convent.  The  first  hall  is  painted  with  ancient  frescoes, 
representing  scenes  in  the  life  of  the  saint.  Here,  on  a  table,  is  the 
large  bowl  in  which  S.  Francesca  prepared  ointment  for  the  poor. 
Other  relics  are  her  veil,  shoes,  &c.  Passing  a  number  of  open 
cloisters,  cheerful  with  flowers  and  orange-trees,  we  reach  the 
chapel,  where  sermons,  or  rather  lectures,  are  delivered  at  the 
anniversary  upon  the  story  of  S.  Francesca's  life,  and  where  her 
embalmed  body  may  be  seen  beneath  the  altar.  A  staircase,  seldom 
seen,  but  used"  especially  by  Francesca,  is  only  ascended  by  the 
nuns  upon  their  knees.  It  leads  to  her  cell  and  a  small  chapel, 
black  with  age,  and  preserved  as  when  she  used  them.  The 
picturesque  dress  of  the  Oblate  Sisters,  who  are  everywhere  visible, 
adds  to  the  interest  of  the  scene. 

'  It  is  no  gloomy  abode,  the  Convent  of  the  Tor  di  Specchi,  even  in  the  eyes  of 
those  who  cannot  understand  the  happiness  of  a  nun.  It  is  such  a  place  as  one 
loves  to  see  children  in  ;  where  religion  is  combined  with  evei-ything  tliat  pleases 
the  eye  and  recreates  the  mind.  The  beautiful  chapel;  the  garden  with  its 
magniflcent  orange-trees  ;  the  open  galleries,  with  their  fanciful  decorations  and 
scenic  recesses,  where  a  holy  picture  or  figure  takes  you  by  surprise,  and  meets 
you  at  every  turn  ;  the  light  airy  rooms,  where  religious  prints  and  ornaments, 
with  flowers,  birds,  and  ingenious  toys,  testify  that  innocent  enjoyments  are 
encouraged  and  smiled  upon  ;  while  from  every  window  may  be  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  Eternal  City,  a  spire,  a  ruined  wall — something  that  spealis  of 
R'jme  and  its  thousand  charms. 

'It  was  on  the  21st  of  March,  the  festival  of  S.  Benedict,  that  Francesca 
herself  entered  the  convent,  not  as  the  foundress,  but  as  a  humble  suppliant  for 
admission.  At  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  having  taken  off  her  customary  black  gown, 
her  veil,  and  her  shoes,  and  placed  a  conl  around  her  neck,  she  knelt  down, 
kissed  the  ground,  and,  shedding  an  abundance  of  tears,  made  her  general  con- 
fession aloud  in  the  presence  of  all  the  Oblates ;  she  described  bersell  as  a 


Via  del  Monte  Tarpeio  191 

miserable  sinner,  a  grievous  offender  against  God,  and  asked  permission  to 
dwell  amongst  them  as  the  meanest  of  their  servants  ;  and  to  learn  from  them 
to  amend  her  life  and  enter  upon  a  holier  course.  The  spiritual  daughters  of 
Francesca  hastened  to  raise  and  embrace  her  ;  and  clothing  her  with  their  habit, 
they  led  the  way  to  the  chapel,  where  they  all  returned  thanks  to  God. 
While  she  remained  there  in  prayer,  Agne.se  de  Lellis,  the  superioress,  assembled 
the  sisters  in  the  chapter-room,  and  declared  to  tliem,  that  now  their  true 
mother  and  foundress  had  come  amongst  them,  it  would  be  absurd  for  her  to 
remain  in  her  present  office ;  that  Francesca  was  tlieir  guide,  their  head,  and 
that  into  her  hands  she  should  instantly  resign  her  authority.  They  all  ap- 
plauded her  decision,  and  gathering  round  the  Saint,  announced  to  her  their 
wishes.  As  was  to  be  expected,  Francesca  strenuously  refused  to  accede  to 
this  proposal,  and  pleaded  her  inability  for  the  duties  of  a  superioress.  The 
Oblates  had  recourse  to  Don  Giovanni,  the  confessor  of  Francesca,  who  began  by 
entreating,  and  finally  connnanded  her  acceptance  of  the  charge.  His  order  she 
never  resisted  ;  and  accordingly,  on  the  2oth  of  ilarch,  she  was  duly  elected  to 
that  office.' — Lady  Georgiana  PuUertons  'Life  of  S.  Francesca  Romana.' 

'  S.  Francesca  Romana  is  represented  in  the  dress  of  a  Benedictine  nun,  a 
black  robe  and  a  white  hood  or  veil ;  and  her  proper  attriljute  is  an  angel,  who 
holds  in  his  hand  the  book  of  the  Office  of  the  Virgin,  open  at  the  words,  "  Tenuisti 
maiivm  dexteram  meain,  et  in.  roluntate  tua  deduxisti  me,  et  cum  glona  suscepisti 
me  "  (Ps.  l.xxiii.  23,  24) ;  which  attribute  is  derived  from  an  incident  thus  narrated 
in  the  acts  of  her  canonisation.  Though  unwearied  in  her  devotions,  yet  if, 
during  her  prayers,  she  was  called  away  by  her  husband  on  any  domestic  duty, 
she  would  close  her  book,  saying  that  "  a  wife  and  a  motlier,  when  called  upon, 
must  quit  her  God  at  the  altar,  and  find  him  in  her  household  affairs."  Now  it 
happened  once  that,  in  reciting  the  Office  of  our  Lady,  she  was  called  away  four 
times  just  as  she  was  beginning  the  same  verse,  and,  returning  the  fifth  time, 
she  found  that  verse  written  upon  the  page  in  letters  of  golden  light  by  the  hand 
of  her  guardian  angel.' — Jameson's  'Sacred  Art,'  p.  151. 

Almost  opposite  the  convent  is  the  Via  del  Monte  Tarpeio,  a 
narrow  alley,  leading  up  to  the  foot  of  what  is  believed  to  be  the 
Tarpeian  Rock  beneath  the  Palazzo  Caffarelli,  and  one  of  the  points 
at  which  the  Rock  was  best  seen.  This  spot  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  site  of  the  house  of  Spurius  Maelius,  who  tried  to  in- 
gratiate himself  with  the  people  by  buying  up  corn  and  distributing 
it  in  a  year  of  scarcity  (B.C.  440),  but  who  was  in  consequence  put 
to  death  by  the  patricians.  His  house  was  razed  to  the  ground, 
and  its  site  being  always  kept  vacant,  went  by  the  name  of  Aequi- 
maelium.^  Part  of  the  primitive  fortress  wall  of  the  Capitol 
remains  at  the  edge  of  the  perpendicular  rock.  The  rock  as  seen 
here  is  the  best  existing  remnant  of  the  perpendicular  cliffs  which 
were  such  a  characteristic  of  the  hills  of  ancient  Rome,  as  they 
still  are  of  Ardea,  Veil,  and  many  other  ancient  sites. 


1  Livy,  iv.  16 ;  x.\xviii.  2S. 


CHAPTER    VI 
THE  PALATINE 

The  Story  of  the  Hill— Orti  Farnesiani— The  Via  Nova— Roma  Qiiadrata— The 
houses  of  the  early  kiiiRS— Palace  of  Domitian  and  Vespasian— Crypto- 
rinliius— Teiiiplo  of  Jui)iter- Victor— The  Lupercal  and  the  hut  of  Faustulus 
—  l'ul,u-i'  of  I'iliiiius— I'ala'e  of  CaliRula— Olivus  Victoiiae  — Ruins  of  the 
kinirly  peiiod-  Altar  of  the  Genius  Loci  — House  of  Hortensius— Palace  of 
Augustus— Stadium— Septizoniuni  of  Severus. 

'^PHE  Palatine  may  be  visited  daily,  from  9  A.M.  to  sunset,  admis- 
1     sion  1  fr.  ;  on  Sundays,  after  10  A.M.,  free. 

'  The  Palatine  formed  a  trapezium  of  solid  rock,  two  sides  of 
which  were  about  300  yards  in  length,  the  others  about  400  :  the 
area  of  its  summit,  to  compare  it  with  a  familiar  object,  was  nearly 
equal  to  the  space  between  Pall  Mall  and  Piccadilly  in  London.' ^ 

The  history  of  the  Palatine  is  the  history  of  the  city  of  Rome. 
Here  was  Roma  Quadrata,  the  '  oppidum  '  or  fortress  of  the  Pelasgi, 
of  which  the  only  remaining  trace  is  the  name  Roma,  signifying 
force.  This  is  the  fortress  where  the  shepherd-king  Evander  is 
represented  by  Virgil  as  welcoming  Aeneas. 

The  Pelasgic  fortress  was  enclosed  by  Romulus  within  the  limits 
of  his  new  city,  which,  '  after  the  Etruscan  fashion,  he  traced 
round  the  foot  of  the  hill  with  a  plough  drawn  by  a  bull  and  a 
heifer,  tlie  furrow  being  carefully  made  to  fall  inwards,  and  the 
heifer  yoked  to  the  near  .side,  to  signify  that  strength  and  courage 
were  required  without,  obedience  and  fertility  within  the  city.^  .  .  . 
The  locality  thus  enclosed  was  reserved  for  the  temples  of  the  gods 
and  the  residence  of  the  ruling  class,  the  class  of  patricians  or 
burghers,  as  Niebuhr  has  taught  us  to  entitle  them,  which  pre- 
dominated over  the  dependent  commons,  and  only  suffered  them  to 
crouch  for  security  under  the  walls  of  Romulus.  The  Palatine  was 
never  occupied  by  the  plebs.  In  the  last  age  of  the  republic,  long 
after  the  removal  of  this  partition,  or  of  the  civil  distinction  between 
the  great  classes  of  the  state,  here  was  still  the  chosen  site  of  the 
mansions  of  the  highest  nobility.'"' 

In  the  time  of  the  early  kings  the  city  of  Rome  was  represented 

'  Merivale,  '  Ilist.  of  Romans  under  the  Empire,'  chap.  xl. 

2  The  boundary  thus  formed  was  called  the  pomoerium,  from  post  moerium, 
'beyond  the  wall.' 

3  Merivale,  chap.  xl. 

192 


The  Palatine  193 

by  the  Palatine  only.  It  was  at  first  divided  into  two  parts,  one 
inhabited,  and  the  other  called  Velia,  and  left  for  the  grazing  of 
cattle.  It  had  two  gates,  the  Porta  Romana  to  the  north-east,  and 
the  Porta  Mugonia — so  called  from  the  lowing  of  the  cattle — to  the 
south-east,  on  the  side  of  the  Velia. 

Augustus  was  born  on  the  Palatine,  and  dwelt  there  in  common 
with  other  patrician  citizens  in  his  youth.  After  he  became  emperor 
he  still  lived  there,  but  simply,  and  in  the  house  of  Hortensius,  till, 
on  its  destruction  by  fire,  the  people  of  Rome  insisted  upon  building 
him  a  palace  more  worthy  of  their  ruler.  This  building  was  the 
foundation-stone  of  '  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars,'  which  in  time  over- 
ran the  whole  hill,  and,  under  Nero,  two  of  the  neighbouring  hills 
besides,  and  whose  ruins  are  daily  being  disinterred  and  recognised, 
though  much  confusion  still  remains  regarding  their  respective  sites. 
In  A.  D.  660,  part  of  the  palace  remained  sufficiently  perfect  to  be 
inhabited  by  the  Emperor  Constans,  and  its  plan  is  believed  to  have 
been  entire  for  a  century  after,  but  it  never  really  recovered  its  sack 
by  Genseric  in  A.D.  455,  in  which  it  was  completely  gutted,  even  of 
the  commonest  furniture  ;  and  as  years  passed  on  it  became  em- 
bedded in  the  soil  which  has  so  marvellously  enshrouded  all  the 
ancient  buildings  of  Rome,  so  that  till  1861  only  a  few  broken 
nameless  walls  were  visible  above  ground. 

'  Cypress  and  ivy,  weed  and  wallflower  grown, 
Matted  and  mass'd  tojjether,  hillocks  heap'd 
On  what  were  chambers,  arch  crush'd,  columns  strown 
In  fragments,  choked-up  vaults,  and  frescoes  steep'd 
In  subterranean  damps,  where  the  owl  peep'd, 
Deeming  it  midnight :— Temples,  baths,  or  halls  ? 
Pronounce  who  can  ;  for  all  that  Learning  reap'd 
From  her  research  has  been,  that  these  are  walls. — 
Behold  the  Imperial  Mount !    'Tis  thus  the  mighty  falls.' 

— Byron,  '  ChUde  Harold. ' 

How  different  is  this  description  to  that  of  Claudian  (De  Sexto 
Consulat.  Uonorii)  : — 

'  The  Palatine,  proud  Rome's  imperial  seat, 
(An  awful  pile)  stands  venerably  great : 
Thither  the  kingdoms  and  the  nations  come 
In  supplicating  crowds  to  learn  their  doom  : 
To  Delphi  less  th'  inquiring  worlds  repair, 
Nor  does  a  greater  god  inhabit  there  : 
This  sure  the  jiompous  mansion  was  design'd 
To  please  the  mighty  rulers  of  mankind  ; 
Inferior  temples  rise  on  either  hand, 
And  on  the  borders  of  the  palace  stand, 
While  o'er  the  rest  her  head  she  proudly  rears. 
And  lodg'd  amidst  her  guardian  gods  appears.' 

— Addison's  Translation. 

After  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  a  great  part  of  the 
Palatine  became  the  property  of  the  Farnese  family,  latterly  repre- 
sented by  the  Neapolitan  Bourbons,  who  sold  the  '  Orti  Farnesiani,' 
in  1861,  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.,  for  £10,000,     It  is  curious 

VOL.  I.  N 


194  Walks  in  Rome 

that  the  possession  of  '  tlie  Pahice  of  the  Caesars  '  should  have  been 
the  unlv  relic  of  his  empire  remaining  to  Napoleon  during  his  exile 
in  England,  when  he  sold  it  to  the  city  of  Rome.  Up  to  1861  this 
part  of  the  Palatine  was  a  vast  kitchen-garden,  broken  here  and 
there  by  picturesque  groups  of  ilex  trees  and  fragments  of  moulder- 
ing wall.  In  one  corner  was  a  casino  of  the  Farnese  (still  standing), 
designed  by  Rafl'aellino  da  Collf,  adorned  in  fresco  by  some  of  the 
other  pupils  of  KalTaelle.  This,  and  all  the  later  buildings  in  the 
'  Orti,'  are  marked  with  the  I'arncse  Jteur-i/c-lis,  and  on  the  principal 
stairca.-e  of  tiie  garden  is  some  really  grand  distemper  ornament  of 
their  time.  The  side  of  the  hill,  beyond  the  Villa  Mills,  has  always 
presented  a  striking  mass  of  picturesque  ruins,  and  was  formerly 
approached  from  the  Via  S.  Sebastiano,  but  is  now  united  to  the 
other  ruins.  After  1861  extensive  excavations  were  carried  on  upon 
the  Palatine,  for  the  most  part  under  the  superintendence  of  Signer 
Rosa,  which  have  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  the  palaces  of  some  of 
the  earliest  emperors,  and  the  substructions  of  several  temples. 

'  The  Farnese  Gardens  were,  if  not  unique,  certainly  a  very  rare  specimen  of 
a  cinquecento  Roman  villa  and  of  the  taste  which  prevailed  at  that  period  in 
laying;  out  pleasure  grounds,  in  which  very  little  work  was  left  to  nature  itself, 
and  nearly  everything  to  the  mason  and  plasterer.  Still  the  Farnese  gardens 
were  bom  with"  a  heavy  original  sin— that  of  concealing,  of  disfiguring,  and  of 
cutting  piecemeal  the  magnificent  ruins  of  the  imperial  palace.'— if.  Lanciani, 
1882. 

Till  the  fall  of  the  Papacy,  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars  was  pro- 
bably the  most  beautiful  ruin  in  the  world.  It  has  nothing  left 
but  its  historic  interest :  all  the  exquisite  shrubs  and  flowers 
which  adorned  its  walls  have  been  torn  away,  and  the  grass  and 
flowers  with  which  nature  re-covers  its  vast  halls  every  week  are 
weeded  away  as  fast  as  they  appear,  so  that  the  ruins  are  now  little 
more  than  featureless  walls  dispersed  over  a  succession  of  ploughed 
fields. 

In  visiting  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars,  it  will  naturally  be  asked 
how  it  is  known  that  the  different  buildings  are  what  they  are 
described  to  be.  In  a  great  measure  this  has  been  ascertained 
from  the  descriptions  of  Tacitus  and  other  historians, — but  the 
greatest  assistance  of  all  has  been  obtained  from  the  'Tristia'  of 
Ovid,  who,  while  in  exile,  consoles  himself  by  recalling  the  different 
buildings  of  his  native  city,  which  he  mentions  in  describing  the 
route  taken  by  his  book,  which  he  had  persuaded  a  friend  to  convey 
to  the  imperial  library.  He  supposes  the  book  to  enter  the  Palatine 
by  the  Clivus  Victoriae,  behind  the  Temple  of  Vesta,  and  follows 
its  course,  remarking  the  different  objects  it  passed  on  the  right  or 
the  left. 

After  the  state  palace  of  Augustus  was  built,  a  street  called  Vicus 
Apollinis  led  to  the  palace  from  the  Via  Sacra.  At  the  entrance  an 
archway  was  erected  bearing  a  chariot  drawn  b)'  four  horses,  driven 
by  Apollo  and  Diana,  a  masterpiece  of  Lysias.  Some  remains  of 
this  archway  existed  as  late  as  1575.  Entering  the  palace  from 
this  side,  opposite  SS.  Cosmo  e  Damiano,  we  had  better  only  ascend 


Summa  Via  Nova  195 

the  first  division  of  the  staircase  and  then  turn  to  the  left.^  Passing 
along  the  lower  ridge  of  the  Palatine,  afterwards  occupied  by  many 
of  the  great  patrician  houses,  whose  sites  we  shall  return  to  and 
examine  in  detail,  we  reach  that  corner  of  the  garden  which  is 
nearest  to  the  Arch  of  Titus.  Here  a  paved  road  of  large  blocks  of 
lava  has  lately  been  laid  bare,  and  is  identified  beyond  a  doubt  as 
part  of  the  Via  Nova,  which  led  from  the  Porta  Mugonia  of  the 
Palatine  along  the  base  of  the  hill  to  the  Velabrum,  and  which  in 
the  reign  of  Augustus  was  made  to  communicate  also  with  the 
Forum.     At  this  point  tlie  road  was  called  Summa  Via  Nova. 

Near  this  spot  must  have  been  the  site  of  the  house  where 
Octavius  lived  with  his  wife  Atia,  the  niece  of  Julius  Caesar 
(daughter  of  his  eldest  sister  Julia),  and  where  their  son,  Octavius, 
afterwards  the  Emperor  Augustus,  was  born.  This  house  after- 
wards passed  into  the  possession  of  C.  Laetorius,  a  patrician  ;  but, 
after  the  death  of  Augustus,  part  of  it  was  turned  into  a  chapel, 
and  consecrated  to  him.  It  was  situated  at  the  top  of  a  staircase — 
'  supra  scalas  anularias  '  - — which  probably  led  to  the  Forum,  and 
is  spoken  of  as  'ad  capita  bubula,' perhaps  from  bulls'  heads,  with 
which  it  may  have  been  decorated. 

Here  we  find  ourselves,  owing  to  the  excavations,  in  a  deep 
hollow  between  the  two  divisions  of  the  hill.  On  the  left  is  the 
Velia,  upon  which,  near  the  Porta  Mugonia,  the  Sabine  king,  Ancus 
Martius,  had  his  palace.  When  Ancus  died,  he  was  succeeded  by 
an  Etruscan  stranger,  Lucius  Tarquinius,  who  took  the  name  of 
Tarquinius  Priscus.  This  king  also  lived  upon  the  Velia,^  with 
Tanaquil,  his  queen,  and  here  he  was  murdered  in  a  popular  rising, 
caused  by  the  sons  of  his  predecessor.  Here  his  brave  wife  Tana- 
quil closed  the  doors,  concealed  the  death  of  the  king,  harangued 
the  people  from  the  windows,'*  and  so  gained  time  till  Servius 
Tullius  was  prepared  to  take  the  dead  king's  place  and  avenge  his 
murder.^  The  Porta  Mugonia  was  probably  the  vetercm  'portam 
Palatii  of  Livy  (i.  12)  through  which  the  Romans  fled  when  repulsed 
by  the  Sabines  of  the  Capitol. 

Keeping  to  the  valley,  on  our  right  are  now  some  huge  blocks  of 
tufa,  almost  crumbled  from  exposure  into  mere  heaps  of  volcanic 
earth,  but  of  interest  as  part  of  the  ancient  walls  usually  called  the 
Walls  of  Romulus,  now  discovered  at  six  different  places  on  the 
hill.  The  remains  cannot,  as  at  one  time  thought,  be  identified 
with   Roma   Quadrata,    an   altar   which   an   account   of   the   ludi 

1  This  entrance  is  (1886)  now  only  open  on  public  days  ;  the  other  entrance  is 
close  to  S.  Teodoro,  whence  it  is  a  considerable  walk  to  this  point.  A  first  visit, 
therefore,  may  be  best  paid  on  a  public  day.  Here  stood,  till  it  was  pulled  down 
In  1884,  the  Farnese  gateway,  a  fine  work  of  Vignola  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
An  order  to  draw  in  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars  must  be  obtained  at  the  llinisteroj 
Piazza  dell  a  Minerva.  It  is  impossible  to  follow  a  chronological  order  in  visit- 
ing the  remains  on  the  Palatine. 

2  Sueton.  Atig.  72.  3  Livy,  i.  41.  4  ibid. 

5  The  palace  of  Numa  was  close  to  the  Temple  of  Vesta ;  that  of  Tullus  Hostilius 
was  on  the  Coeliau  ;  those  of  Servius  Tullius  and  Tarquinius  Snperbiis  on  the 
Esqniline. 


](.){'>  Walks  in  Rome 

mcculiirtK  oi  20-1  A.u.  mentions  as  'on  the  Palatine,  before  the 
Temple  of  Apollo,  within  the  portico'  (of  the  Danaids).  Beyond 
this,  on  the  right,  is  a  mass  of  concrete  belonging  to  the  foundations 
of  a  tower  built  by  the  Frangipani  to  defend  their  property  on  the 
Palatine.^ 

Nearlv  opposite,  on  the  left,  are  some  remains  considered  to  be 
those  of  the  Porta  Palatii.  On  the  blocks  of  tufa,  in  a  drain  shaft 
close  to  the  foundations,  the  names  of  two  Greek  stonemasons, 
Diodes  and  Philocrates,  appear. 

The  valley  is  now  blocked  by  a  vast  mass  of  building  which 
entirely  closes  it.  This  is  the  Flavian  Palace,  built  in  the  valley 
between  the  Velia  and  the  other  eminence  of  the  Palatine,  which 
Rosa,  contrary  to  other  opinions,  identifies  with  the  Germalus.  The 
division  of  the  Palatine  thus  named  was  reckoned  as  one  of  'the 
seven  hills'  of  ancient  Rome.  Its  name  was  thought  to  be  derived 
from  Germani,  owing  to  Roaiulus  and  Remus  being  found  in  its 
vicinity. - 

Vespasian  and  Titus,  in  A.D.  70,  began  to  fill  up  the  hollow  of 
the  Palatine  and  to  build  the  Flavian  Palace  upon  it,  using  any 
existing  buildings  as  a  support  for  their  own,  filling  the  chambers 
of  the  earlier  building  entirely  up  with  earth,  so  that  they  became 
a  solid  massive  foundation.  The  ruins  which  we  visit  are  thus  those 
of  the  Flavian  Palace,  and  were  its  state-rooms — aedes  publicae — 
but  from  one  of  its  halls  we  can  descend  into  earlier  rooms,  perhaps 
of  the  time  of  Augustus.  The  three  projecting  rostra  which  we 
now  see  in  front  of  the  palace  are  restorations  by  Signer  Rosa.  As 
the  palace  of  Domitian,  the  upper  buildings  are  described  by  the 
courtier-poet  Statius.^ 

The  palace  on  the  Palatine  was  not  the  place  where  the  emperors 
generally  lived.  They  resided  at  their  villas,  and  came  into  the 
town  to  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars  for  the  transaction  of  public 
business.  Thus  this  palace  was,  as  it  were,  the  St.  James's  of 
Rome.  Nerva  inscribed  '  Aedes  Publicae '  on  its  external  wall,  to 
impress  upon  the  Roman  people  its  public  character.  The  fatigue 
and  annoyance  of  a  public  arrival  every  morning,  amid  the  crowd 
of  clients  who  always  waited  upon  the  imperial  footsteps,  was 
naturally  very  great,  and  to  obviate  this  the  emperors  made  use  of 
a  subterranean  passage  which  ran  round  the  whole  building,  and 
by  which  they  were  enabled  to  arrive  unobserved,  and  not  to  pre- 
sent themselves  in  public  till  their  appearance  upon  the  rostra 
in  front  of  the  building  to  receive  the  morning  salutations  of  their 
people. 

If  we  turn  to  the  right,  beneath  the  garden  which  now  covers  the 
greater  part  of  the  hill  of  Germalus,  we  shall  find  an  entrance  to 
this  passage,  following  which,  we  will  ascend  with  the  emperor 
into  his  palace. 

The  passage,  called  Crypto-Porticus,  is  still  quite  perfect,  and 

'  Dionysius,  ii.  50  ;  Livy,  i.  12. 
-  Varr.  iv.  8.  3  silv.  iv.  11,  18. 


The  Flavian  Palace  197 

retains  a  great  part  of  its  mosaic  pavements  and  much  of  its  inlaid 
ceilings,  from  which  the  gilt  mosaic  has  been  picked  out,  but  the 
pattern  is  still  traceable.  The  passage  was  lighted  from  above.  It 
was  by  this  route  that  S.  Laurence  was  led  up  for  trial  in  the 
basilica  of  the  palace.  Recent  authorities  also  point  it  out  as  the 
scene  of  the  murder  of  Domitian  (see  later).  After  some  distance 
the  passage  is  joined  by  one  of  more  recent  date,  with  stucco  orna- 
ment, leading  to  the  palace  of  Tiberius.  But,  before  this,  let  us 
turn  to  the  left,  and  mounting  a  staircase,  emerge  again  upon  the 
upper  level. 

The  emperor  here  reached  the  palace,  but  as  he  did  not  yet  wish 
to  appear  in  public,  he  turned  to  the  left  by  the  private  passage 
called  Fauces,  which  still  remains,  running  behind  the  main  halls 
of  the  building.  Here  he  was  received  by  the  different  members  of 
the  imperial  family,  much  as  Napoleon  III.  was  received  by  Princess 
Mathilde,  Clotilde,  and  the  Murats,  in  a  private  apartment  at  the 
Tuileries,  before  entering  the  ball-room.  Hence,  passing  across 
the  end  of  the  basilica,  the  emperor  reached  the  portico  in  front  of 
the  palace,  looking  down  upon  the  hollow  space  where  were  the 
Temple  of  Jupiter  Stator  and  the  other  buildings  connected  with 
the  early  history  of  the  Roman  state.  Here  the  whole  court  received 
him  and  escorted  him  to  the  central  rostra  where  he  had  his  public 
reception  from  the  people  assembled  below,  and  whence  perhaps  he 
addressed  to  them  a  few  words  of  morning  salutation  in  return.  The 
attendants  meanwhile  defiled  on  either  side  to  the  lower  terraced 
elevation,  which  still  remains. 

This  ceremony  being  gone  through,  the  emperor  returned  as  he 
came,  to  the  basilica  for  the  transaction  of  business. 

The  name  Basilica  means  'King's  House.'  It  was  the  ancient 
Law  Court.  It  usually  had  a  portico,  was  oblong  in  form,  and 
ended  in  an  apse  for  ornament.  The  Christians  adopted  it  for 
their  places  of  worship  because  it  was  the  largest  type  of  building 
then  known.  They  also  adopted  the  names  of  the  different  parts  of 
the  pagan  basilica,  as  the  chancel,  from  the  canccllum,  the  bar  of 
justice  at  which  the  criminal  was  placed — the  tribune,  from  the 
tribunal  of  the  judge,  &c.  Our  word  chancellor  comes  from  cancel- 
larius,  the  name  given  to  the  chief  secretary  of  the  court,  who  sat 
within  the  cancellum.  A  chapel  and  sacristy  added  on  either  side 
produced  the  form  of  the  cross.  The  Basilica  here  is  of  great  width. 
A  leg  of  the  emperor's  chair  actually  remains,  and  till  lately  was  in 
aitu  upon  the  tribunal,  and  part  of  the  richly  wrought  marble  bar  of 
the  Confession  still  exists.  This  was  the  bar  at  which  S.  Laurence 
and  many  other  Christian  martyrs  were  judged.  The  basilica  in 
the  Palace  of  the  Caesars  was  also  the  scene  of  the  trial  of  Valerius 
Asiaticus  in  the  time  of  Claudius  (see  Chap.  II.  p.  31),  when  the 
Empress  Messalina,  who  was  seated  near  the  emperor  upon  the 
tribunal,  was  so  overcome  by  the  touching  eloquence  of  the  innocent 
man,  that  she  was  obliged  to  leave  the  hall  to  conceal  her  emotion — 
but  characteristically  whispered,  as  she  went  out,  that  the  accused 
must   nevertheless  on  no  account  be  suifered  to  escape  with  his 


198  Walks  in  Rome 

life,'  that  she  might  take  possession  of  his  Pincian  Garden,  which 
was  as  Naboth's  vineyard  in  her  eyes.  An  account  is  extant  which 
describes  how  it  was  necessary  to  increase  the  width  of  the  seat 
upon  the  tribunal  at  this  period,  in  consequence  of  a  change  in  the 
fashion  of  dress  among  the  Koman  ladies.  The  colossal  statues  of 
Bacchus  and  Hercules  in  black  basalt,  now  at  Parma,  were  found 
here  in  1724. 

This  basilica,  though  probably  not  then  itself  in  existence,  will 
always  have  peculiar  interest  as  showing  the  form  and  character  of 
that  earlier  basilica  in  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars  in  which  S.  Paul 
was  tried  before  Nero  ;  and  it  is  even  possible  that  the  palace  of 
Nero,  which  overran  the  whole  of  the  hill,  may  have  had  its  basilica 
on  this  site,  and  that  it  was  here  preserved  by  Vespasian  in  his  later 
and  more  contracted  palace. 

'  Tlie  appeals  from  the  provinces  in  civil  causes  were  heard,  not  by  the  emperor 
liinisflf.  liUt  liy  liis  delegates,  wlio  were  persons  of  consular  rank ;  Augustus  had 
appointed  one  sncli  tlelegate  to  hear  appeals  from  each  provhice  respectively, 
iiiit  ( liniinal  appeals  appear  generally  to  have  been  heard  by  the  emperor  in 
]aison,  assisted  by  his  council  of  assessors.  Tiberius  and  Claudius  had  usually 
sal  for  this  purpose  in  the  Forum  ;  but  Nero,  after  the  example  of  Augustus, 
heard  these  causes  in  the  imperial  palace,  whose  ruins  still  crown  the  Palatine. 
Here,  at  one  end  of  a  splendid  hall,-  lined  with  the  precious  marbles  of  Egypt 
and  of  Libya,  we  must  imagine  Caesar  seated  in  the  midst  of  his  assessors. 
These  councillors,  twenty  in  number,  were  men  of  the  highest  rank  and  greatest 
influence.  Among  them  were  the  two  consuls  and  selected  representatives  of 
each  of  the  other  great  magistracies  of  Rome.  The  remainder  consisted  of 
senat^us  chosen  by  lot.  Over  this  distinguished  bench  of  judges  presided  the 
representative  of  the  most  powerful  monarchy  which  has  ever  existed — the 
absolute  ruler  of  the  whole  civilised  world. 

'Before  the  triliunal  of  the  blood-stained  adulterer  Nero,  Paul  was  brought 
in  fetters,  under  the  custody  of  his  military  guard.  The  prosecutors  and  their 
witnesses  were  called  forward  to  support  their  accusation ;  for,  although  the 
sul)ject-matter  for  decision  was  contained  in  the  Mritten  depositions  forwarded 
from  .Judaea  by  Festus,  yet  the  Roman  law  required  the  personal  presence  of 
tlie  accusers  and  the  witnesses,  whenever  it  could  be  obtained.  We  already 
know  the  charges  brought  against  the  Apostle.  He  was  accused  of  disturbing 
the  .Tews  in  the  exercise  of  their  worship,  which  was  secured  to  them  by  law ;  of 
desecrating  their  Temple ;  and,  above  all,  of  violating  the  public  peace  of  the 
empire  by  perpetual  agitation,  as  the  ringleader  of  a  new  and  factious  sect. 
This  charge  was  the  most  serious  in  the  view  of  a  Roman  statesman  ;  for  the 
crime  alleged  amounted  to  majestas,  or  treason  against  the  commonwealth,  and 
was  punishable  with  death. 

'  These  accusations  were  supported  by  the  emissaries  of  the  Sanhedrim,  and 
probably  by  the  testimony  of  witnesses  from  Judaea,  Ephesus,  Corinth,  and  the 
other  scenes  of  Pauls  activity.  .  .  .  When  the  parties  on  lioth  sides  had  been 
heard,  and  the  witnesses  all  examined,  the  judgment  of  the  court  was  taken. 
Each  of  the  assessors  gave  his  opinion  in  writing  to  the  emperor,  who  never 
discussed  the  judgment  with  his  assessors,  as  had  been  the  practice  of  better 
emperors,  but  after  reading  their  opinion,  gave  sentence  according  to  his  own 
plea.sure,  witliout  reference  to  the  judgment  of  the  majority.  On  this  occasion 
it  might  have  been  expected  that  he  would  have  pronounced  the  condemnation 


'  Tac.  Ann.  xi.  2. 

-  Dion  Cassius  mentions  that  the  ceilings  of  Halls  of  Justice  in  the  Palatine 
were  painted  by  Severus  to  represent  tlie  stairy  sky.  The  old  Roman  practice 
was  for  the  magistrate  to  sit  under  the  open  sky,  which  probably  suggested  this 
kind  of  ceiling.  ^ 


The  Flavian  Palace  199 

of  the  accused,  for  the  influence  of  Poppaea  had  now  reached  its  culniinatinjr 
point,  and  she  was  a  Jewish  proselyte.  We  can  scarcely  doubt  that  the  emissaries 
from  Palestine  would  have  demanded  her  aid  f<jr  the  destruction  of  a  traitor  to 
the  Jewish  faith  ;  nor  wonld  any  scruples  have  prevented  her  listenint;  to  their 
reijuest,  backed  as  it  probably  was,  according  to  Roman  usage,  by  a  bribe.  How- 
ever this  may  l>e,  the  trial  resulted  in  the  acquittal  of  S.  Paul.  He  was  pro- 
nounced guiltless  of  the  charges  brought  against  him,  his  fetters  were  struck  off, 
and  he  was  liberated  from  his  long  captivity.' — Conybeare  and  Howson. 

Beyond  the  basilica  is  the  Tablinum,  the  great  liall  or  throne- 
rooai  of  the  palace,  which  served  as  a  kind  of  commemorative 
domestic  museum,  where  family  statues  and  pictures  were  preserved. 
Huge  statues  in  porphyry  and  basalt  lined  the  walls,  the  fashion  of 
these  materials  having  been  introduced  under  Claudius.  This  vast 
room  was  lighted  from  above,  on  the  plan  which  may  still  be  seen 
at  S.  Maria  degli  Angeli,  which  was  in  fact  a  great  hall  of  a  Koman 
house.  The  roof  of  this  hall  was  one  vast  arch,  unsupported  except 
by  the  side  walls.  These  immense  vaults  owe  much  to  the  po:~oIana, 
of  which  the  hard  Roman  cement  was  constructed.  We  have  record, 
however,  of  a  period  when  these  walls  were  supposed  insufficient 
for  the  great  weight,  and  had  to  be  strengthened  ;  in  interesting 
confirmation  of  which  we  can  still  see  how  the  second  wall  was 
added  and  united  to  the  first. 

Appropriately  opening  from  the  family  picture-gallery  of  the 
Tablinum  was  the  Lararium,  a  private  chapel  for  the  worship  of 
such  members  of  the  family — Livia  and  many  others — as  were 
deified  after  death.  An  altar  on  the  original  site  was  erected  here 
by  Signer  Rosa,  from  bits  which  have  been  found.  It  was  probably 
here  that  Heliogabalus  collected  the  most  precious  relics  of  ancient 
Rome — the  Palladium,  the  fire  of  Vesta,  the  Ancilia,  and  the 
stone  of  Pessinus  from  the  temple  of  Cybele.  The  latter  was  pro- 
bably a  brown  stone  three  feet  high,  ending  in  a  sharp  point, 
found  here  by  Monsignor  Bianchini  in  1725,  and  left  uncared  for. 
Under  all  these  halls  are  still  buried  chambers  of  the  palace  of 
Domitian. 

Hitherto  the  chambers  which  we  have  visited  were  open  to  the 
public  ;  beyond  this,  none  but  his  immediate  family  and  attendants 
could  follow  the  emperor.  We  now  enter  the  Peristyle,  a  courtyard 
which  was  open  to  the  sky,  but  surrounded  with  arcades  orna- 
mented with  statues,  where  we  may  imagine  that  the  empresses 
amused  themselves  with  their  birds  and  flowers.  Suetonius  describes 
Domitian  as  walking  in  the  colonnades  of  this  court,  secure  from 
interruption  and  danger,  the  walls  of  marble  being  so  highly 
polished,  that  the  emperor  could  see  reflected  in  them  any  one 
who  was  approaching  from  behind.  The  decorations  were  oi  jwrta 
santa  and  white  marble.  Hence,  by  a  narrow  staircase,  we  can 
descend  into  rooms  of  an  earlier  house  of  the  late  Republic  which 
formerly  stood  in  the  valley  between  the  two  divisions  of  the 
Palatine  unearthed,  which  retain  remains  of  gilding  and  fresco, 
and  an  artistic  group  in  stucco.  When  first  discovered  in  172(3,  the 
first  room  was  covered  with  exquisite  arabesques  on  a  gold  ground. 
An  original  window  remains,  and  it  will  be  recollected,  on  looking 


200  Walks  in  Rome 

al  it,  iliat  wlien  tliis  was  V)uilt  it  was  not  subterranean,  but  merely 
in  the  hollow  of  the  vallfv  afterwards  filled  up. 

We  now  roach  the  Tricliniiun  or  dining-room,  surrounded  by  a 
skirting  of  pavonazzetto  with  a  cornice  of  giallo.  The  apse  has 
a  l)eautiful  opus  scctile  pavement.  Tacitus  describes  a  scene  in  the 
imperial  triclinium,  in  which  the  Emperor  Tiberius  is  represented 
as  reclining:  at  dinner,  liaving  on  one  side  his  aged  mother,  the 
Empress  Livia,  and  on  the  other  his  niece  Agrippina,  widow  of 
Germanicus  and  grand-daughter  of  the  great  August us.i  It  was 
while  the  imperial  family  were  seated  at  a  banquet  in  the 
triclinium,  of  the  time  oif  Nero,  that  his  young  step-brother 
Britannicus  (son  of  Claudius  and  Messalina)  swallowed  the  cup 
of  poison  which  the  Emperor  had  caused  Locusta  to  prepare,  and 
sank  back  dead  upon  his  couch,  his  wretched  sisters  Antonia  and 
Octavia,  also  seated  at  the  ghastly  feast,  not  daring  to  give  ex- 
pression to  their  grief  and  horror — and  Nero  merely  desiring  the 
attendants  to  carry  the  boy  out,  and  saying  that  it  was  a  fit  to 
which  he  was  subject.-  Here  it  was  that  Marcia,  the  concubine, 
presented  the  cup  of  drugged  wine  to  the  wicked  Commodus,  on 
his  return  from  a  wild-beast  hunt,  and  produced  the  heavy  slumber 
during  which  he  was  strangled  by  the  wrestler  Narcissus.  In  this 
very  room  also  his  successor  Pertinax,  who  had  spent  his  short  reign 
of  three  months  in  trying  to  reform  the  State,  resuscitate  the 
finances,  and  to  heal,  as  far  as  possible,  'the  wounds  inflicted  by 
the  hand  of  tyranny,'  received  the  news  that  the  guard,  impatient 
of  unwonted  discipline,  had  risen  against  him,  and  going  forth  to 
meet  his  assassins,  fell,  covered  with  wounds,  just  in  front  of  the 
palace.^ 

Vitruvius  says  that  every  well-arranged  Roman  house  has  a 
dining-room  opening  into  a  nymphaeum  ;  and  accordingly  here,  on 
the  right,  is  a  Nymphaeum,  with  a  beautiful  fountain  surrounded  by 
miniature  niches,  once  filled  with  bronzes  and  statues.  Water  was 
conveyed  hither  by  the  Neronian  aqueduct.  The  pavement  of 
this  room  was  of  oriental  alabaster,  of  which  fragments  remain. 
Large  windows  opened  from  the  Nymphaeum  to  the  Triclinium, 
that  the  banqueters  might  be  refreshed  by  the  splash  of  tlie 
fountain. 

The  magnificence  of  the  Palace  of  Domitian  (Imp.  a.d.  Sl-OI!)  is 
extolled  in  the  inflated  verses  of  Statins,  who  describes  the  imperial 
dwelling  as  exciting  the  jealousy  of  the  abode  of  Jupiter — as  losing 
itself  amongst  the  stars  by  its  height,  and  rising  above  the  clouds 
into  the  full  splendour  of  the  sunshine  !  Such  was  the  extravagance 
displayed  by  Domitian  in  these  buildings,  that  Plutarch  compares 
him  to  Midas,  who  wished  everything  to  be  made  of  gold.  This 
probably  was  the  scene  of  many  of  the  tyrannical  vagaries  of 
Domitian. 


1  Ann.  iv.  54. 

-  Tac.  Ann.  xiii.  18 ;  Suet.  Ner.  33 ;  Dion,  Ixi.  7. 

•'  See  Gibbon,  i.  133, 


The  Flavian  Palace  201 

'  "  Having  once  made  a  great  feast  for  the  citizens,  he  proposed,"  says  Dion, 
"to  follow  it  up  with  au  entertainment  to  a  select  number  of  the  highest 
nobility.  He  fitted  up  an  ai)aitment  all  in  black.  The  ceiling  was  black,  the 
walls  were  black,  the  pavement  was  Idack,  and  upon  it  were  ranged  rows  of  bare 
stone  seats,  black  also.  The  guests  were  :introduced  at  night  without  their 
attendants,  and  each  might  see  at  the  head  of  his  couch  a  column  placed,  like  a 
tombstone,  on  which  his  own  name  was  graven,  with  the  cresset  lamp  above, 
such  as  is  suspended  in  the  tombs.  Presently  there  entered  a  troop  of  naked  boys, 
blackened,  who  danced  around  with  horrid  movements,  and  then  stood  still  be- 
fore them,  offering  them  the  fragments  of  food  which  are  commonly  presented  to 
the  dead.  The  guests  were  paralysed  with  terror,  expecting  at  every  moment  to 
be  put  to  death  ;  and  the  more,  as  the  others  maintained  a  deep  silence,  as 
though  they  were  dead  themselves,  and  Domitian  spake  of  things  pertaining  to 
the  state  of  the  departed  only."  But  this  funeral  feast  was  not  destined  to  end 
tragically.  Caesar  happened  to  be  in  a  sportive  mood,  and  when  he  had 
sufficiently  enjoyed  his  jest,  and  had  sent  his  visitors  home  expecting  worse  to 
follow,  he  bade  each  to  be  presented  with  the  silver  cup  and  platter  on  which  his 
dismal  supper  had  been  served,  and  with  the  slave,  now  neatly  washed  and 
apparelled,  who  had  waited  upon  him.  Such,  said  the  populace,  was  the  way 
in  which  it  pleased  the  emperor  to  solemnise  the  funeral  banquet  of  the 
victims  of  his  defeats  in  Dacia,  and  of  his  persecutions  in  the  city.'— Merivale, 
ch.  Ixii. 

It  was  in  this  palace,  perhaps  in  the  existing  Crypto  Porticus, 
that  the  murder  of  Domitian  took  place. 

'  Of  the  three  great  deities,  the  august  assessors  in  the  Capitol,  Minerva  was 
regarded  by  Domitian  as  his  special  patroness.  Her  image  stood  by  his  bed- 
side ;  his  customary  oath  was  by  her  divinity.  But  now  a  dream  apprised  him 
that  the  guardian  of  his  person  was  disarmed  by  the  guardian  of  the  empire,  and 
that  Jupiter  had  forbidden  his  daughter  to  protect  her  favourite  any  longer. 
Scared  by  these  horrors,  he  lost  all  self-control,  and  petulantly  cried,  and  the 
cry  was  itself  a  portent:  "Now  strike  Jove  whom  he  will!"  From  super- 
natural terrors,  he  reverted  again  and  again  to  earthly  fears  and  suspicions. 
Henceforward  the  tyrant  allowed  none  to  be  admitted  to  his  presence  without 
being  previously  searclied  ;  and  he  caused  the  ends  of  the  corridor  in  which  he 
took  exercise  to  be  lined  with  polished  marble,  to  reflect  the  image  of  any  one 
behind  him  ;  and  at  the  same  time  he  inquired  anxiously  into  the  horoscope  of 
evei-y  chief  whom  he  might  fear  as  a  possible  rival  or  successor. 

'  The  victim  of  superstition  had  long  since,  it  was  said,  ascertained  too  surely 
the  year,  the  day,  the  hour  which  should  prove  fatal  to  him.  He  had  learnt  too 
that  he  was  to  "die  by  the  sword.  .  .  .  The  omens  were  now  closing  about  the 
victim,  and  his  terrors  became  more  importunate  and  overwhelming.  "Some- 
thing," he  exclaimed,  "is  about  to  happen,  which  men  shall  talk  of  all  the 
world  over."  Drawing  a  drop  of  blood  from  a  pimple  on  his  forehead,  "May 
this  be  all."  he  added.  His  attendants,  to  reassure  him,  declared  that  the  hour 
had  passeil.  Embracing  the  flattering  tale  with  alacrity,  and  rushing  at  once  to 
the  extreme  of  confidence,  he  announced  that  the  danger  was  over,  and  that  he 
would  bathe  and  dress  for  the  evening  repast.  But  the  danger  was  just  then 
ripening  within  the  walls  of  the  palace.  The  mysteries  there  enacted,  few, 
indeed,"could  penetrate,  and  the  account  of  Domitian's  fall  has  been  coloured 
by  invention  and  fancy.  The  story  that  a  child,  whom  he  suffered  to  attend  in 
his  private  chamber,  found  by  chance  the  tablets  which  he  had  placed  under  his 
pillow,  and  that  the  empress,  on  inspecting  them,  and  finding  herself,  with  his 
most  familiar  servants,  designated  for  execution,  contrived  a  plot  for  his  assas- 
sination, is  one  so  often  repeated  as  to  cause  great  suspicion.  But  neither  can 
we  accept  the  version  of  Philostratus,  who  would  have  us  believe  that  the 
murder  of  Domitian  was  the  deed  of  a  single  traitor,  a  freedman  of  Clemens, 
named  Stephanus,  who,  indignant  at  his  patron's  death,  and  urged  to  fury  by 
the  sentence  on  his  patron's  wife,  Domitilla,  rushed  alone  into  the  tyrant's 
chamber,  diverted  his  attention  with  a  frivolous  pretext,  and  smote  him  with 
the  sword  he  bore  concealed  in  his  sleeve.  It  is  more  likely  that  the  design, 
however  it  originated,  was  common  to  several  of  the  household,  and  that  means 
were  taken  among  them  to  disarm  the  victim  and  Itaffle  his  cries  for  assistance. 


L'02  Walks  in  Rome 

St»|)lmiiu8,  who  is  said  t<>  liave  excelled  in  personal  strength,  may  have  been 
einployed  t<»  ileal  the  blow;  for  not  more,  perhaps,  than  one  attendant  would 
be  ailinitted  at  once  into  the  presence.  Struck  in  the  uroin,  but  not  mortally, 
Doniitian  snatched  at  his  own  weapon,  but  found  the  sword  removed  from  its 
scabbard.  He  then  clutched  the  assassin's  daguer,  cuttinj;  his  own  fingers  to 
the  bone  ;  then  desperately  thrust  the  bloody  talons  into  the  eyes  of  his  assail- 
ant, and  licat  his  head  with  a  golden  goblet,  shrieking  all  the  time  for  lielp. 
Thereui>on  in  rushed  Parthenius,  Maximus,  and  others,  and  despatched  him  as 
he  lay  writhing  on  the  pavement.'— iVcyuw^c,  ch.  Ixii. 

'  Oibbon  has  described  the  hopeless  condition  of  one  who  should  attempt  to  fly 
from  the  wrath  of  the  almost  onniipresent  imperator.  I'.ut  this  dire  impos- 
sibility of  escape  was  in  the  end  dreadfully  retaliated  ui)on  that  imperator  : 
persecutors  and  traitors  were  found  everywhere  ;  and  the  vindictive  or  the 
ambitious  subject  found  himself  as  omnipresent  as  the  jealous  or  offended 
emperor.  There  was  no  escape  open,  says  Gibbon, //-ojn  Caesar  ;  true  ;  but  neither 
was  there  any  escape  for  Caesar.  The  crown  of  the  (laesars  was  therefore  a 
crown  of  thorns  ;  and  it  must  be  admitted,  that  never  in  this  world  have  rank 
and  power  been  purchased  at  so  awful  a  cost  of  tran(iuillity  and  jieace  of  mind. 
The  steps  of  Caesar's  throne  were  absolutely  saturated  with  the  blood  of  those 
who  had  possessed  it:  and  so  iiiexorable  was  the  murderous  fate  which  over- 
hung that  gloomy  existence,  that  at  length  it  demanded  the  spirit  of  martyrdom 
in  him  who  ventured  to  ascend  it.' — De  Quincey,  '  The  Caesars.' 

We  now  reach  the  portico  which  closed  the  principal  apartments 
of  the  palace  on  the  south-west.  Some  of  its  Corinthian  pillars 
have  been  re-erected  on  the  sites  where  they  were  found.  From 
hence  we  can  look  down  upon  some  grand  walls  of  republican 
times,  formed  of  huge  tufa  blocks,  which  have  been  buried  under 
the  artificial  platform  of  Domitian. 

Passing  a  space  of  ground,  called,  without  much  authority, 
Bibliotcca,  we  reach  a  small  Theatre  on  the  edge  of  the  hill,  inte- 
resting as  described  by  Pliny,  and  because  the  Emperor  Vespasian, 
who  is  known  to  have  been  especially  fond  of  reciting  his  own  com- 
positions, probably  did  so  here.  Hence  we  may  look  down  upon 
the  valley  between  the  Palatine  and  Aventine,  where  the  rape 
of  tlie  Sabines  took  place,  and  upon  the  site  of  the  Circus  Maximus. 
From  hence  we  may  imagine  that  the  later  emperors  surveyed  the 
hunts  and  games  in  that  circus,  when  they  did  not  care  to  descend 
into  the  amphitheatre  itself. 

Beyond  this,  on  the  right,  is  (partially  restored)  the  grand  stair- 
case leading  to  the  platform  once  occupied  by  the  Temple  of  Jupiter 
Victor,  vowed  by  Fabius  Maximus  during  the  Samnite  war,  in  the 
assurance  that  he  would  gain  the  victory.  On  the  steps  is  a  sacri- 
ficial altar,  which  retains  its  grooves  for  the  blood  of  the  victims, 
with  an  inscription  stating  that  it  was  erected  by  '  Cn.  Domitius 
M.  F.  Calvinus,  Pontifex  ' — who  was  a  general  under  Julius  Caesar, 
and  consul  53  B.C.  and  40  B.C.  The  altar  does  not  belong  to  the 
temple,  but  to  a  place  near  the  Regia  in  the  Forum.  Lanciani 
considers  the  temple  to  have  been  that  of  Jupiter  Propugnator. 
Beneath  the  temple  are  subterranean  chambers  used  as  cisterns  for 
storing  water. 

Opposite  the  temple  are  remains  of  a  large  hypocaust,  the  under 
floor  of  which  remains,  with  the  square  pilae  on  which  the  upper 
floor  rested. 

We  now  reach  a  broad  flight  of  steps  cut  in  the  tufa  rock,  pro- 


Hut  of  Faustulus  203 

bably  the  Scalae  Caci  of  Solinus,^  called  from  the  hut  of  Cacus,  the 
friend  of  Hercules,  at  their  foot.  A  little  chamber  in  the  tufa  wall 
which  flanks  the  stairs  was  probably  a  fountain  or  cistern. 

Here  stood  a  little  Temple  of  Hercules  and  the  wild  cornel  or 
cherry  tree,  supposed  to  have  grown  from  the  spear  of  Romulus, 
surrounded  by  a  stone  fence,  whence  oracles  were  supposed  to  pro- 
ceed, as  from  the  oak  groves  of  the  ancient  Israelites.  When  the 
steps  were  widened  by  Caligula,  he  interfered  with  the  roots  of  the 
cornel  tree,  and  it  died.  He  altered  the  steps  that  he  might  more 
easily  reach  his  jockeys  in  the  Circus  Maximus.  This  staircase 
formed  the  escape  to  the  Aventine  used  by  Caius  Gracchus. 
Vitellius  also  escaped  this  way  when  the  city  was  taken  by  the 
generals  of  Vespasian  in  December  G9  ;  and  Otho  descended  these 
stairs  when  he  was  going  to  murder  Galba.  Near  the  top  of  the 
stairs  fragments  of  very  early  black  pottery  have  been  found.  On 
the  right  of  the  descent,  nearly  at  the  top,  are  remains  of  a  drain, 
a  stone  channel,  with  tufa  slabs  to  cover  it.  A  street,  with  shops, 
here  ran  beneath  the  palace  of  Tiberius. 

Beyond  this,  for  some  distance,  we  find  no  remains,  because  this 
space  was  always  kept  clear  :  for  here,  constantly  renewed,  stood 
the  Hut  of  Faustulus  and  the  Sacred  Fig-tree." 

'  The  old  Roman  legend  ran  as  follows :  Procas,  king  of  Alba,  left  two  sons. 
Xuniitor,  the  elder,  being  weak  and  spiritless,  suffered  Annilius  to  wrest  the 
government  from  him,  and'reduce  him  to  his  father's  private  estates.  In  the 
enjoyment  of  these  he  lived  rich,  and,  as  he  desired  nothing  more,  secure  ;  but 
the  usurper  dreaded  the  claims  that  might  be  set  up  by  heirs  of  a  different 
character.  He  had  Numitor's  son  murdered,  and  appointed  his  daughter,  Silvia, 
one  of  the  Vestal  virgins. 

'  Amulius  had  no  cliildren,  or  at  least  only  one  daughter  :  so  that  the  race  of 
Anchises  and  Aphrodite  seemed  on  the  point  of  expiring,  when  the  love  of  a  god 
prolonged  it,  in  spite  of  the  ordinances  of  man,  and  gave  it  a  lustre  worthy  of  its 
origin.  Silvia  had  gone  into  the  sacred  grove  to  draw  water  from  the  spring  for 
the  service  of  the  temple.  The  sun  quenched  its  rays  :  the  sight  of  a  wolf  made 
her  fly  into  a  cave  :  there  JIars  overpowered  the  timid  virgin,  and  then  consoled 
her  with  the  promise  of  noble  children,  as  Poseidon  consoled  Tyro,  the  daughter 
of  Salmoneus.  But  he  did  not  protect  her  from  the  tyrant,  nor  conld  the  pro- 
testations of  her  innocence  save  her.  Vesta  herself  seemed  to  demand  the  con- 
demnation of  the  unfortunate  priestess  ;  for  at  the  moment  when  she  was 
delivered  of  twins,  the  image  of  the  goddess  hid  its  eyes,  her  altar  treml)led,  and 
her  fire  died  away.  Amulius  ordered  that  the  mother  and  her  babes  should  be 
drowned  in  the  river.  In  the  Anio  Silvia  exchanged  her  earthly  life  for  that  of 
a  goddess.  The  river  carried  the  bole  or  cradle,  in  which  the  children  were 
lying,  into  the  Tilier,  which  had  overflowed  its  banks  far  and  wide,  even  to  the 
foot  of  the  woody  hills.  At  the  root  of  a  wild  fig-tree,  the  Ficus  ruminalis, 
which  was  preserved  and  held  sacred  for  many  centuries,  at  the  foot  of  the 
Palatine,  the  cradle  overturned.  A  she-wolf  came  to  drink  of  the  stream  :  she 
heard  the  whimpering  of  the  children,  carried  them  into  her  den  hard  l)y,  made 
a  bed  for  them,  licked  and  suckled  them.-'  When  they  wanted  other  food  than 
milk,  a  woodpecker,  the  bird  sacred  to  Mars,  brought  it  to  them.  Other  l)irds 
consecrated  to  auguries  hovered  over  them,  to  drive  away  insects.  This  mar- 
vellous spectacle  was  seen  by  Faustulus,  the  shepherd  of  the  royal  flocks.    The 

1  i.  18. 

-  A  fig-tree  was  always  sacred,  and  is  so  still  in  India  and  South  America. 

■'  There  is  nothing  impossible  in  this  story.  Well-authenticated  instances 
were  collected  by  Major  Sleeman,  in  India,  of  boys  carried  off  by  wolves  and 
nurtured  liy  them. 


204  Walks  in  Rome 

she-wolf  ilrew  buck,  nnd  gave  up  the  chiUlreii  tolmniaii  nature.  Acca  Laurentia, 
liis  wiU;  Ix'iiunc  tht-ir  foster-niother.  Tliey  grew  up,  ahnig  with  her  twelve 
SDiis,  DM  the  Palathie  hill,  in  straw  huts  which  they  built  for  themselves :  that 
of  Knniulns  was  preserved  hy  emitinual  repairs,  as  a  sacred  relic,  down  to  the 
time  of  Nero.  They  were  thestoutest  of  the  sliei)licrd  lads,  foui;ht  bravely  against 
wild  beasts  and  robbers,  maintaining  their  right  against  every  one  by  their 
might,  and  turning  might  into  right.  Their  booty  they  shared  with  their  com- 
rades. The  followers  of  llouiulus  were  called  Quinctilii,  those  of  Remus  Kabii : 
the  seeds  of  <IiscoriI  were  soon  sown  amongst  them.  Their  wantonness  engaged 
lliem  in  disjuites  with  the  shepherds  of  the  wealthy  Numitor,  who  fed  their 
tlocks  on  Mount  .Vvcntine  :  so  that  here,  as  in  the  story  of  Evander  and  Ciicus, 
we  Hud  the  quarrel  between  the  Palatine  and  the  Aventine  in  the  tales  of  the 
remotest  times.  Remus  was  taken  by  tile  stratagem  of  these  shepherds,  and 
dragged  to  Alba  as  a  robber.  A  secret  forel)nding,  the  remembrance  of  his 
granilsons,  awakened  by  the  story  of  the  two  Ijrothers,  kept  Nunntor  from  pro- 
nouncing a  hasty  sentence.  The  culprits'  foster-father  hastened  with  Romulus 
to  tlie  city,  and  told  the  old  man  and  the  youths  of  their  kindred.  They 
resolved  to  avenge  their  own  wrong  and  that  of  their  house.  With  their  faithful 
comrades,  whom  the  dangers  of  Kemiis  had  brought  to  the  city,  they  slew  the 
king,  and  the  people  of  .Alba  agrin  became  subject  to  Numitor. 

•  But  love  for  the  home  which  fate  had  assigned  them  drew  the  youths  back 
to  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  to  found  a  city  there,  and  the  shepherds,  their  old  com- 
I)anions,  were  their  first  citizens.  .  .  .  This  is  the  old  tale,  as  it  was  written  by 
Fabius,  and  sung  in  ancient  lays  down  to  the  time  of  Dionysius.' — Niebuhr'n  'His- 
torij  of  Home.' 

The  tufa  foundations  of  the  hut  were  discovered  in  1S72,  and  still 
partially  e.xist. 

In  the  cliff  of  the  Palatine,  below  the  fig-tree  {Ficus  ruminalis), 
was  shown  for  many  centuries  the  cavern  Lupercal,  sacred  from  the 
earliest  times  to  the  Pelasgic  god  Pan. 

'  nine  lucum  ingentem,  (luem  Romulus  acer  Asylum 
itctulit.  ot  gclidii  moiistrat  sul)  rupe  Lupercal, 
I'arrliasio  dictum  Panos  de  more  Lycaei.' 

—  Virgil,  Aen.  viii.  342. 

'  La  louve,  nourrice  de  Romulus,  a  peut-etre  6te  imagin^e  en  raison  des  rapports 
mythologiques  qui  existaient  entre  le  loup  et  Pan,  defenseur  des  troupeaux.  Ce 
(ju'il  y  a  de  siir,  c'est  ((ue  les  fetes  lupercales  garderent  le  caractere  du  dieu  en 
I'honneur  duquel  elles  avaient  etc  priniitivement  instituees  et  I'empreinte  d'une 
origine  pelasgique  ;  ces  fetes  au  temps  de  Ciceron  avaient  encore  uii  caractere 
pastoral  en  memoire  de  I'Arcadie  d'oii  on  les  croyait  venues.  Les  Luperques  qui 
representaient  les  Satyres,  compagnons  de  Pan,  faisaient  le  tour  de  I'antique 
sejour  des  Pelasges  sur  le  Palatin.  Ces  homnies  nus  allaient  frappaiit  avec  les 
lanieres  de  peau  de  bouc,  I'animal  lascif  par  excellence,  les  femmes  pour  les  rendre 
fiScondes;  des  fetes  analogues  se  celebraienten  Arcadie  sous  le  nom  de  Lukeia(les 
fetes  des  loups),  dont  le  mot  Ivpcrcalea  est  une  traduction.'— vl>;i«crc.  Hist.  Mom. 
i.  143. 

When  M.  Furius,  390  B.C.,  appealed  to  the  senate  in  an  impas- 
sioned speech  not  to  desert  the  sacred  spots  of  Rome,  this  was 
especially  mentioned  — '  casa  ilia  conditoris  nostri.'  In  the  hut  were 
preserved  several  objects  venerated  as  relics  of  Romulus. 

'On  conservait  le  baton  augural  avec  lequel  Romulus  avait  desslne  sxu-  le  ciel, 
suivant  le  rite  etrusque.  I'espace  oil  s'6tait  manifesto  le  grand  auspice  des  douze 
vautours  dans  ]es(|uels  Rome  crut  voir  la  jiromesse  des  douze  siecles  qu'en  effet 
le  destin  devait  hii  accorder.  Tons  les  angurcs  se  servirent  par  la  suite  de 
ce  baton  sacre,  (pii  fut  trouve  intact  aprfesVincendie  du  monument  dans  lequel  il 
etait  conserve,  miracle  paien  dont  I'equivalent  jioiurait  se  rencontrer  dans  plus 
dune  l<5gende  de  la  Rome  chr6tienne.  On  montrait  le  cornouiller  n6  du  bois  de 
la  lance  que  Romulus,  avec  la  vigueur  surhumajne  d'un  demi-dieu,  avait  jet6e  de 


Temple  of  Cybele  205 

rAventin  sur  le  Palatin,  oii  elle  s'etait  enfoncue  dans  la  teiie  et  avait  proihiit  uii 
grand  arl)re. 

'  On  niontrait  sur  le  Palatin  le  berceaii  et  la  cabane  de  Eonmlus.  Plutarque  a 
vu  ce  herueau,  le  Santo-Preiiepio  des  anciens  Remains,  (jui  litait  attache  avec  des 
liens  d'airain,  et  sur  lequel  on  avait  trace  des  earacteres  niysterieux.  La  cabane 
etait  ;\  un  seul  etage,  en  planches  et  couverte  de  roseaux,  que  Ton  reconstruisait 
pieusement  chaque  fois  (|u'une  incendie  la  detruisait;  car  elle  briila  a,  diverses 
reprises,  ce  que  la  nature  des  niateriaux  dont  elle  citait  formee  fait  croire  facile- 
ment.  J'ai  vu  dans  les  environs  de  Konie  un  cabaret  rustique  dont  la  toiture 
6tait  exactement  pareillc  iX  celle  de  la  cabane  de  Romulus.' — Ampere,  Hist.  Bom. 
i.  342. 

Turning  along  the  terrace  which  overhangs  the  Velabrum,  we 
reach  a  block  of  buildings  crowned  with  ilex  tree.s,  supposed  to  be 
remains  of  the  most  famous  of  the  Temples  of  Cybele — aedes 
Magnae  Deum  viatris.  The  temple  was  identified  from  the 
colossal  female  figure  found  near  it  in  1872.  Thirteen  years 
before  it  was  built,  the  '  Sacred  Stone,'  the  form  under  which 
the  '  Idaean  Mother '  was  worshipped,  had  been  brought  from 
Pessinus  in  Phrygia,  because,  according  to  the  Sibylline  books, 
frequent  showers  of  stones  which  had  occurred  could  only  be 
expiated  by  its  being  transported  to  Rome.  It  was  given  up 
to  the  Romans  by  their  ally  Attains,  king  of  Pergamus,  and 
P.  Cornelius  Scipio,  the  younger  brother  of  Africanus — accounted 
the  worthiest  and  most  virtuous  of  the  Romans — was  sent  to  receive 
it.  As  the  vessel  bearing  the  holy  stone  came  up  the  Tiber,  it 
grounded  at  the  foot  of  the  Aventine,  when  the  aruspices  declared 
that  only  chaste  hands  would  be  able  to  move  it.  Then  the  Vestal 
Claudia  drew  the  vessel  up  the  river  by  a  rope. 

'  Ainsi  Sainte  Brigitte,  Su^doise  morte  a  Rome,  prouva  sa  purete  en  touchant 
le  bois  de  I'autel,  qui  reverdit  soudain.  Une  statue  fut  erigee  a  Claudia  dans  le 
vestibule  du  temple  de  Cybele.  Bien  quelle  eut  6t&,  disait-on,  seule  epargnee 
dans  deux  incendies  du  temple,  nous  n'avons  plus  cette  statue,  mais  nous  avons 
au  Capitole  un  bas-relief  on  I'iSvenement  miraculeux  est  represente.  C'est  un 
autel  diSdie  par  une  alt'ranchie  de  la  (jens  Claudia;  il  a  6te  trouv6  au  pied'de 
I'Aventin,  pres  du  lieu  qu'on  designait  comme  celui  oil  avait  eti  oper6  le  miracle. 
— Ampere,  Hist.  Bom.  in.  142. 

In  her  temple,  which  was  round  and  surmounted  by  a  cupola, 
Cybele  was  represented  by  a  statue  with  its  face  to  the  east,  and 
the  stone,  which  ended  in  a  point  so  sharp  that  Servius  calls  it 
acus  Matris  Deum,  occupied  the  place  of  the  head.  The  relic  was 
stolen  by  Heliogabalus  and  placed  in  his  private  museum.  It  was 
found  (as  described  by  Mgr.  Francesco  Bianchini)  in  1730,  and  then 
lost.  The  temple  was  adorned  with  a  painting  of  Corybantes,  and 
plays  were  acted  in  front  of  it.^ 

'  Qua  madidi  sunt  tecta  Lyaei, 
Et  Cybeles  picto  stat  Corybante  tholus.' 

— Martial,  Ej).  i.  71,  9. 

This  temple,  after  its  second  destruction  by  fire,  was  entirely 
rebuilt  by  Augustus  in  A.D.  2. 


Dyer's  '  Hist,  of  the  Citi/  of  Borne. 


200  Walks  in  Rome 

'CylK-lf  est  certJiiiieniciit  la  gniiule  dcesse,  la  grancle  mere,  c'est-i'i-dire  la  person- 
nifli'ntii.ii  .If  la  f.roiuliti'  i-t  ilc  la  vie  universelle  :  bizarre  idole  qui  prcsente  le 
spectacle  liicUux  <lu  iiianielles  disposees  par  ijaiies  le  long  dun  corps  conime 
eiiveloppO  ilans  ime  piiiie,  et  tl'ou  sortent  des  taureaux  et  des  abeilles,  images 
des  fi)reeg  eroalriccs  et  des  jjuissaiices  ordonnatrices  de  la  nature.  On  honorait 
cette  deesse  de  I'Asie  par  des  orgies  furieuses,  par  un  melange  de  dubauche 
etfrenc-e  et  de  rites  cruels  ;  ses  pretres  elfu)niiies  dansaicnt  au  son  des  Hiites 
lydiennes  et  de  ses  crolalcn,  veritables  casta^'nettes,  seml)lal)les  ii  eelles  que  fait 
resonner  anjourdhui  le  paysan  romain  en  dansant  la  fongueuse  mUarelle.  On 
voit  au  niusee  du  I'apitole  I'efligie  en  bas-relief  d'un  aixhiijalle,  d'un  chef  de  ces 
jirtHres  insensea.  et  pros  de  lui  les  attributs  de  la  deesse  asiati.jue,  les  ttiltes,  les 
crotales,  et  la  mysterieuse  corbeille.  Cet  arcliigalle,  avec  son  air  de  femme,  sa 
rolie  qui  conviendrait  ii  une  femme,  nous  retrace  I'espece  de  demence  religieuse  a 
lai|uelle  s'associaieut  les  diilires  pervers  d'Heliogabale.'— ^mj?ere,  Emp.  ii.  310. 

On  this  -side  of  the  hill  was  the  Palace  of  Tiberius,'  in  which  he 
resided  during  the  earlier  part  of  hi.s  reign,  when  he  was  under  the 
influence  of  his  aged  and  imperious  mother,  Livia.  Here  he  had 
to  mourn  for  Drusus,  his  ,'^nly  son,  who  fell  a  victim  (a.d.  2?,)  to 
poison,  administered  to  him  by  his  wife  Livilla  and  her  lover,  the 
favourite  Sejanus.  Here  also,  in  A.D.  29,  died  Livia,  widow  of 
Augustus,  at  the  age  of  eighty -six,  '  a  memorable  example  of  suc- 
cessful artifice,  having  attained  in  succession,  by  craft  if  not  by 
crime,  every  object  she  could  desire  in  the  career  of  female  ambi- 
tion.- It  was  from  the  windows  of  the  Tiberiana  Domus  that 
Tacitus  describes  Vitellius  as  watching  the  burning  of  the  Capitoline 
Temple  of  Jupiter,  and  the  fight  between  his  adherents  and  the 
partisans  of  Vespasian  under  Sabinus. 

Cicero  mentions  baths  at  this  corner  of  the  hill,  and  also  that 
Quintus  Roscius  was  murdered  here  whilst  returning  from  them. 
This  was  the  dandy  Quintus  Roscius,  who  used  to  follow  Hortensius 
as  he  walked,  that  he  might  observe  the  graceful  way  in  which  he 
folded  his  toga  :  his  nephew  was  a  great  friend  of  Cicero. 

The  consul  Messala  wished  to  build  a  theatre  at  this  corner  of 
the  hill  for  scenic  representations  in  honour  of  the  worship  of 
Cybele,  whose  temple  was  close  by,  but  his  intention  was  knocked 
on  the  head  for  fear  he  might  interfere  with  the  sacred  Lupercal. 

From  the  Temple  of  Cybele  a  second  flight  of  steps  led  to  the 
Scalae  Caci.  A  gutter  surrounds  the  foundations  of  a  building 
which  was  probably  one  of  the  Chapels  of  the  Argei,  of  which  there 
were  twenty-seven  in  Rome  and  two  on  the  Palatine.  Hither,  on 
May  3,  came  a  procession,  with  pontifices  and  augurs,  and  to  the  ■ 
suppliants  were  given  thirty  •*  images  made  of  reeds  (argei),  which 
each  recipient  afterwards  threw  into  the  Tiber,  probably  as  an 
offering  of  propitiation  to  the  gods  for  the  bridge  which  had  been 
built  over  it.  Dionysius  says  that  the  custom,  continued  till  his 
time,  was  instituted  by  Hercules  to  satisfy  the  scruples  of  the 
people  when  he  abolished  the  human  sacrifices  to  Saturn. 

The  row  of  arches  remaining  beneath  the  upper  level  to  which 
we  ascend  in  the  palace  of   Tiberius  are  those  of  the  soldiers' 


1  Tacitus,  Jlist.  i.  77 ;  Suet.  Vitell.  15.  2  Merivale,  eh.  xlv. 

:'  Either  representing  the  thirty  patrician  curiae  or  the  thirty  Latin  townships 


Palace  of  Caligula  207 

quarters.  In  the  fourth  arch  is,  or  was,  a  curious  graffito  of  a  ship. 
In  another  the  three  pavements  in  use  at  different  times  may  be 
seen  in  situ,  one  above  another.  On  the  terrace  above  tliese  arches 
has  recently  been  discovered  a  large  jjiscina  or  fixlijiond ;  beneath, 
on  the  right,  are  the  painted  chambers  of  a  building,  discovered 
1869,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  House  of  Drusus  (elder 
brother  of  Tiberius)  and  Antonia.^  A  vaulted  staircase  leads  down 
to  the  atrium  on  which  the  dift'erent  public  rooms  open.  Several 
of  the  rooms  are  richly  decorated  in  fresco  paintings  of  earlier 
date  than  those  of  Pompeii ;  one  has  the  picture  of  a  street  with 
figures  of  females  going  to  a  sacrifice,  and  of  ladies  at  their  toilette 
another  of  Mercury,  lo,  and  Argus  ;  and  a  third  of  Galatea,  and 
the  Cyclops  Polyphemus  with  Cupid  on  his  shoulders.  From  the 
names  of  the  characters  represented  in  these  pictures  being  affixed 
to  them  in  Greek,  we  may  naturally  conclude  that  they  are  the 
work  of  Greek  artists.  Fixed  to  the  wall  are  inscribed  lead  pipes 
found  in  the  house. 

Except  the  soldiers'  quarters,  the  Domus  Tiberiana  remains  un- 
excavated,  and  its  site  is  covered  with  gardens.  It  contained  a 
famous  library,  probably  burnt  in  the  fire  of  Commodus.  The 
ilex  grove  beyond  is  interesting  as  having  been  the  first  meeting- 
place  of  the  Accademia  degli  Arcadi.  The  north-eastern  corner  of 
the  Palatine  is  entirely  occupied  by  the  vast  ruins  of  the  Palace 
of  Caligula — Domus  Gaiana — built  again.>>t  the  side  of  the  hill 
above  the  Clivus  Victoriae,  which  still  remains,  and  consisting  of 
ranges  of  small  rooms,  communicating  with  open  galleries,  edged 
by  marble  balustrades,  of  which  a  portion  exists.  In  these  rooms 
the  half-mad  Caius  Caligula  rushed  about,  sometimes  dressed  as  a 
charioteer,  sometimes  as  a  warrior,  and  delighted  in  astonish- 
ing his  courtiers  by  his  extraordinary  pranks,  or  shocking  them  by 
trying  to  enforce  a  belief  in  his  own  divinity. - 

'  C'est  dans  ce  palais  que,  tourment^  par  rinsomnie  et  par  I'agitation  de  son 
4me  furieuse,  il  passera  inie  partie  de  la  nuit  a  errer  sous  d'immenses  portiques, 
attendant  et  appelant  le  jour.  C'est  \k  aussl  qu'il  aura  I'incroyable  id^e  de 
placer  un  dieu  infanie. 

'  Caligula  se  fit  batir  sur  le  Palatin  deux  temples.  II  avait  d'ahord  voulu  avoir 
une  demeure  sur  le  niont  Capitolin  ;  niais,  ayant  reflechi  que  Jupiter  I'avait 
precede  au  Capitole,  il  en  prit  de  I'humeur  et  retourna  sur  le  Palatin.  Dans  les 
folies  de  Caligula,  on  voit  se  nianifester  cette  pensee  :  .Te  suis  dieu !  pensee  qui 
n'etait  peut-etre  pas  tres  extraordinaire  cliez  un  jeune  honinie  de  vingt-cinq  ans 
devenu  tout  a  coup  maitre  du  nionde.  II  parut  en  effet  croire  ;"i  sa  divinity, 
prenant  le  nom  et  les  attributs  de  divers  dieux,  et  changeant  de  nature  divine  en 
changeant.  de  perruque. 

'  Non  content  de  s'elever  lui  temple  a  lui-meme,  Caligula  en  vint  k  etre  son 
propre  pretre  et  a  s'adorer.  Le  despotisme  oriental  avait  connu  cette  adoration 
etrange  de  soi :  sur  les  monuments  de  I'Egypte  on  voit  Ramses-roi  presenter  son 
offrande  ;\  Ramsfes-dieu ;  mais  Caligula  fit  ce  que  n'avait  fait  aucun  Pharaon  :  il  se 
donna  pour  collegue,  dans  ce  culte  de  sa  propre  personne,  son  cheval,  qu'il  ne 
nomnia  pas,  mais  qu'il  songea  un  moment  ii  nommer  con&\x\.'  —Amplre,  Emp. 
ii.  7. 

1  It  is  sometimes  called  the  House  of  Li  via,  sometimes  the  House  of  Germanicus. 
2  Suet.  Cat.  22. 


208  Walks  in  Rome 

llere  'one  tlay  lit  a  piililic  biiiuiuet,  wlieii  the  consuls  were  reclining  by  his 
side,  CaliK'ula  burst  siulileiily  into  a  lit  of  laughter;  and  wlien  they  eourteoiisly 
in<|Uire<i  the  cause  of  his  mirth,  astonniled  them  by  coolly  rejilyin;,'  that  he  was 
thinking;  li^w  by  one  word  he  could  cause  both  their  heads  to  roll  on  the  floor. 
He  amused  hin'iself  witli  similar  banter  even  with  his  wife  Caesonia,  for  whom 
he  seems  to  have  had  a  strongei'  feeling  than  for  any  of  his  former  consorts. 
While  fondling  her  neck  he  is  reported  to  have  said,  "Fair  as  it  is,  how  easily  I 
could  sever  it ! "  —Mciivale,  ch.  .\lviii. 

After  tlie  murder  of  Caligula  (Jan.  24,  A.D.  41)  by  the  tribune 
Ohaerea,  in  the  vaulted  passage  which  led  from  the  pahice  to  the 
theatre,  a  singular  chance  which  occurred  in  this  part  of  the  palace 
led  to  the  elevation  of  Claudius  to  the  throne. 

'  III  the  confusion  which  ensued  upon  the  <leath  of  Caius,  several  of  the  prae- 
torian guards  had  flung  themselves  furiously  into  the  palace  and  began  to  plunder 
its  glittering  chambers.  None  dared  to  offer  them  any  opposition  ;  the  slaves  or 
freedmeu  fled  and  i-oncealed  themselves.  One  of  the  inmates,  half-hidden  behind 
a  curtain  in  an  oliscure  corner,  was  dragged  forth  with  brutal  violence  ;  and 
great  was  the  intrn<lers'  surpris"  when  they  recognised  him  as  Claudius,  the  long 
despised  and  neglected  uncle  of  the  murdered  emperor.i  lie  sank  at  their  feet 
almost  senseless  with  terror;  butthe  soldiers  in  their  wildest  mood  still  respected 
the  blood  of  the  Caesars,  and  instead  of  slaying  or  maltreating  the  suppliant,  the 
brother  of  (iermanictis,  they  hailed  him,  more  in  jest  perhaps  than  earnest,  w  ith 
the  title  of  Imperator,  and  carried  him  off  to  their  cami).'—Merivale,  ch.  xlix. 

In  this  same  place  Claudius  was  feasting  when  he  was  told  that 
his  hitherto  idolised  wife  Messalina  was  dead,  without  being  told 
whether  she  died  by  her  own  hand  or  another's,  and  asked  no 
questions,  merely  desiring  a  servant  to  pour  him  out  some  more 
wine,  and  went  on  eating  his  supper.'-  Here  also  Claudius,  who  so 
dearly  loved  eating,  devoured  his  last  and  fatal  supper  of  poisoned 
mushrooms,  which  his  next  loving  wife  (and  niece),  Agrippina, 
prepared  for  him,  to  make  way  for  her  son  Nero  upon  the  throne."' 

The  Clivus  Victoriae  commemorates  by  its  names  the  Temple  of 
Victory,"'  said  to  have  been  founded  by  the  Sabine  aborigines  before 
the  time  of  Komulus,  and  to  be  the  earliest  temple  at  Rome  of 
which  there  is  any  mention  except  that  of  Saturnus.  This  temple 
was  rebuilt  by  the  consul  L.  Postumius.  Some  remains  of  the 
temple  were  found  in  172o-28  behind  S.  Maria  Liberatrice.  They 
remained  on  the  spot  for  many  years,  but  were  dispersed  in  1886. 
Some  fragments  are  now  in  the  museum  at  Naples,  others  in  the 
Palazzo  Farnese. 

Other  temples  on  the  Palatine  were  that  of  Juno  Sospita  :— 

'  I'rincipio  niensis,  Phrygiae  contermina  Matri, 
Sospita  deluljris  dicitur  aucta  novis.' 

— Ovid,  Fast,  ii,  55. 
of  Minerva : — 

'  Se.xte,  Palatinae  cultor  facunde  Minervae, 
Ingenio  frueris  qui  propiore  Dei.' 

— Martial,  Ep.  v.  5. 

and  a  temple  of  Moonlight  mentioned  by  Varro  (iv.  10). 

1  Suet.  Claud.  10.  'Prorepsit  ad  solarium  proximuni,  interque  praetenta 
foribus  vela  se  aljdidit'  The  solariutu  was  the  external  terraced  portico,  and 
this  still  remains. 

•■i  Tac.  Ann.  xi.  37,  38 ;  Dion.  Ix.  31 ;  Suet.  Claud.  39. 

^  Tac.  Ann.  xii.  67;  Suet.  Claud.  44. 

■•  Dionysius,  i.  32 ;  Livy,  xxix.  14. 


Clivus  Victoriae  209 

From  the  Torretta  del  Palatine,  an  interesting  building  of 
Farnese  times  destroyed  in  1884,  which  stood  near  the  house  of 
Caligula,  there  was  a  magnificent  view  over  the  seven  hills  of  Rome  ; 
— the  Palatine,  Aventine,  Capitoline,  Coelian,  Quirinal,  Viminal, 
Esquiline.  From  this  point  also  it  was  very  interesting  to  remember 
that  these  were  not  the  heights  considered  as  'the  Seven  Hills'  in 
the  ancient  history  of  Rome,  when  the  sacrifices  of  the  Septimoyitium 
were  offered  upon  the  Palatine,  Velia,  and  Germale,  the  three 
divisions  of  the  Palatine — of  which  one  can  no  longer  be  traced  ; 
upon  the  Fagutal,i  Oppius,  and  Cispius,  the  secondary  heights  of 
the  Esquiline  ;  and  upon  the  Suburra,  which  perhaps  comprehended 
the  Viminal."  Hence  also  we  could  see  the  ground  we  have  tra- 
versed on  the  Palatine  spread  before  us  like  a  map. 

If  we  descend  the  staircase  in  the  Palace  of  Caligula,  we  find 
ourselves  on  the  Clivus  Victoriae,  so  named  from  an  altar  of  victory, 
precursor  of  a  temple.  Here  was  the  Porta  Roinarmla,  one  of  the 
three  early  gates  of  the  Palatine  (which  took  its  name  from  the 
neighbouring  springs).  By  a  hanging  bridge  above  the  Temple  of 
Augustus,  which  we  return  to  later  (supra  templum  divi  Augusti 
ponte  transmisso),  and  over  the  tops  of  the  houses  in  the  valley,  the 
half-mad  Caligula  used  to  pass,  that  he  might,  as  he  said,  the  more 
easily  hold  intercourse  with  his  friend  and  comrade  Jupiter  upon 
the  Capitol.  The  bridge  was  supported  on  corbels  bearing  arches, 
and  the  side  was  decorated  with  stucco  reliefs.  Part  of  its  marble 
balustrade  remains  in  situ.  One  of  the  piers  which  Caligula  used 
for  his  bridge,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  palace,  was  formed  by  the 
Temple  of  Augustus,  built  by  Tiberius.^  This  bridge,  with  many 
other  works  of  Caligula,  was  of  very  short  duration,  being  destroyed 
immediately  after  his  death  by  Claudius.  The  Porta  Romanula 
itself  was  probably  destroyed  long  before  Caligula  built  his 
palace. 

If  we  turn  to  the  left  below  the  Clivus  Victoriae,  we  shall  find 
that  against  the  escarpment  of  the  Palatine  behind  S.  Teodoro 
are  remains  of  an  early  concrete  wall  of  imperial  date,  behind 
which  the  tufa  rock  is  visible.  The  wall  is  only  built  where  the 
tufa  is  of  a  soft  character,  and  the  concrete  still  retains  the  im- 
pression of  supporting  timber.s,  which  themselves  have  rotted  away. 
Here  also  are  fragments  of  bases  of  towers  of  republican  times. 
Near  the  western  corner  of  the  hill  is  a  portion  of  the  earliest  wall 
of  the  Palatine,  usually  known  as  the  Wall  of  Romulus,  but  more 
probably  of  Tarquinius  Prisons,  built  in  large  oblong  blocks,  with- 
out mortar  or  cement.'*  The  stone  used  was  the  brown  tufa  of  the 
Palatine,  which  is  studded  with  pieces  of  pumice-stone  and  charred 
wood,  and  is  evidently  formed  by  the  hot  ashes  of  a  volcano  falling 
upon  forest. 


1  So  called  from  its  beeches. 

2  t'estus,  340,  34S. 

3  Suet.  Tib.  47,  Cal.  21.  22 ;  Tnc.  Ann.  vi.  45. 

4  The  real  wall  of  Romulus  must  have  been  a  mere  earthwork. 
.  I.  O 


210  Walks  in  Rome 

'  l-csyst('iiic  lie  construction  est  Ic  iiieiiiu  ((ue  dans  les  villes  d'Etruiie  et  ilans 
la  niiiraillc  l)i\tiu  A  Ronn-  par  li-s  rois  Otins<|ues.  Cupendant  I'appaieil  est  inoins 
rL^Rulier.  Les  iiiurB  d  line  petite  ville  tin  Latinni  fondtJe  par  iin  aventurier  ne 
pouvaieiit  iHre  aiissi  Biiijints  que  les  niurs  des  villes  de  I'Etrurie,  pays  toutautre- 
nient  civilise.  I.u  petite  cite  de  Koniulus.  lioiniie  an  Palatin,  n'avait  pas  I'inipor- 
tance  de  la  Uonie  des  'J'aniuins,  (pii  couvrait  les  liuit  collines. 

'  1)11  resle,  la  construction  est  etiusi|ue  et  devait  I'etre.  Romulus  n'avait  dans 
8A  ville,  liabitee  par  des  patres  et  des  bandits,  personne  <|Ui  fvit  capable  d'en  batir 
renceinte.  Les  Ktrus<iiies,  grands  biUisseurs,  etaient  de  I'autre  cote  du  fleuve. 
Quel(|ues-un8  nienie  I'avaieut  probablenient  passu  deja  et  habitaient  le  niont 
t'oeliiis.  Romulus  dut  s"a<lresser  iV  eux,  et  faire  faire  cet  ouvrage  par  des  archi- 
tectes  et  des  niaeons  etrusques.  Ce  fut  aussi  selon  le  rite  de  I'Etrurie,  pays 
sacerdotal,  (lue  Romulus,  suivant  en  cela  I'usage  etabli  dans  les  cit6s  latines,  tit 
con.sacrer  I'enceinte  de  la  ville  nouvelle.  II  agit  en  cette  circonstance  conime 
agit  un  paysan  romaiu,  ((uaiid  il  appelle  un  pretre  pour  benir  remplacenient  de 
la  maison  ((u'il  veut  batir. 

'  Les  details  de  la  ccremonie  par  latpielle  fut  inauguriic  la  premifere  enceinte  de 
Rome  nous  out  ete  transmis  par  Plutarque.i  et  avec  un  grand  detail  par  Tacite,^ 
qui  sans  doute  avail  sous  les  yeux  les  livres  des  pontifes.  Nous  connaissons 
avec  exactitude  le  contour  ([ue  'raqn  la  charrue  sacree.  Xous  pouvons  le  suivre 
encore  aujounlliui. 

'  Romulus  attela  un  taiireau  blanc  et  uno  v^chn  blanche  a  una  charrue  dent  le 
soc  etait  d'airain.'!  L'usage  de  I'airain  a  \ni  >  ■  '!■  i  ll'mie,  comnie  partout,  I'usage 
du  fer.  11  partit  du  lieu  consacre  par  lanliqiir  auttl  (I'Ifercule,  au-dessous  de 
Tangle  occidental  du  I'alatiu  et  delapreiniiie  itcmie  des  I'elasges,  et,  se  dirigeant 
vers  le  siidest,  traea  son  sillon  le  long  de  la  base  de  la  colline. 

'  C'eux  (|ui  suivaient  Romulus  rejetaient  les  mottes  de  terre  en  dedans  du  sillon, 
image  du  Vallum  futur.  Ce  sillon  6tait  I'Agger  de  Servius  Tullius  en  petit.  A 
I'extremite  de  la  vallee  <iui  separe  le  Palatin  de  I'Aventin,  oil  devait  etre  le  grand 
ciniue,  et  ovi  estanjourd'hui  la  rue  des  Cerclii,  il  prit  a  gauche,  et,  contournant  la 
colline.  continua,  en  creusant  toujours  son  sillon,  a  tracer  sans  le  savoir  la  route 
qui  devaieut  suivre  un  jour  les  trioniphes,  puis  revint  an  point  d'oii  il  etait  parti. 
La  charrue,  rinstrument  du  labour,  le  symbole  de  la  vie  agricole  des  enfants  de 
Saturne,  avait  dessine  le  contour  de  la  cite  guerriere  de  Romulus.  IJe  meme 
qnand  on  avait  detruit  une  ville,  on  faisait  passer  la  charrue  sur  le  sol  qu'elle  avait 
occupe.  Par  la,  ce  sol  devenait  sacre,  et  il  n'etait  pas  plus  permis  de  I'habiter  qu'il 
ne  I'etait  de  franchir  le  sillon  qu'on  cieusait  autour  des  villes  lors  de  leur  fonda- 
tion,  comme  le  tit  Romulus  et  comme  le  tirent  toujours  depuis  les  fondateurs 
d'tine  colonic  ;  car  toute  colonic  etait  une  R,oiiie.' — Ampere,  Hist.  Iio7n.  1.  282. 

J3ehind  the  wall  are  remains  of  a  rock  cistern,  reached  by  two 
circular  shaft.s  from  the  upper  part  of  the  hill. 

Close  under  this,  the  northern  side  of  the  walls  of  Romulus,  ran 
the  Via  Nova,  down  which  Marcus  Caedicius  was  returninpf  to  the 
city  in  the  gloaming,  when  at  this  spot,  between  the  sacred  grove 
and  the  Temple  of  Vesta,  he  heard  a  supernatural  voice  bidding 
him  to  warn  the  senate  of  the  approach  of  the  Gauls.  After  the 
Gauls  had  invaded  Home  and  departed  again,  an  altar  and  sanc- 
tuary recorded  the  miracle  on  this  site."* 

At  the  corner  near  S.  Anastasia  are  remains  of  houses,  apparently 
of  the  time  of  Tiberius,  built  against  the  cliff.  Near  this  were 
steps  supposed  to  be  those  called  the  Stairs  of  Cacus,"  leading  to 
the  hut  of  Faustulu.s.  On  the  other  side,  the  Gradus  Pulchri 
Littoris,  the  koXtj  dKTri  of  Plutarch,  led  to  the  river.''  Most 
authorities  consider  that  this  was  the  spot  called  Germalus  in 
remembrance  of  the  twin  brothers  (germani)  Eomulus  and  Remus, 

1  Plut.  liomitl.  xi.  '-'  Tac.  Ann.  xii.  24.  3  Prell.  B.  Myth.  456. 

*  Cic.  De  Div.  i.  45 ;  Livy,  v.  32.  5  Solinus,  i.  18.  «  Plut.  Rmn.  Sol.  2. 


The  Paedagogium  211 

who  are  believed  to  have  been  cast  ashore  by  the  swollen  Tiber 
and  suckled  by  the  wolf  near  this.  The  statue  of  the  wolf  now 
in  the  Capitol  was  found  close  by.  Tlie  flat  ground  below  this  has 
been  supposed,  from  objects  found  there,  to  have  contained  an 
imperial  brassfoundry. 

Here  a  remarkable  travertine  altar  of  republican  times  was  dis- 
covered in  1820,  and  remains  in  situ.  It  is  inscribed  SEi  deo  SEI 
DEIVAE  SAC.  C  SEXTIVS  C.  F.  CALVINUS  PR — DE  SENATI  SENTENTIA 
RESTITVIT.  Some  suppose  this  to  be  the  actual  altar  mentioned 
above  as  erected  to  the  Genius  Loci,  in  consequence  of  the  mysteri- 
ous warning  in  370  B.C.  of  the  Gallic  invasion,  and  that  it  was  origi- 
nally called  the  altar  of  Locutins.  Others  think  that  this,  dedicated 
to  'a  god  or  goddess,'  is  the  altar  to  an  unknown  god  mentioned  by 
S.  Paul.  Sometimes  the  name  of  the  god  of  dedication  was  con- 
cealed, for  fear  enemies  should  make  effectual  prayers  to  it.  The 
father  of  the  tribune  C.  S.  Calvinus  mentioned  in  the  inscription 
was  consul  with  C.  Cassius  Longinus,  B.C.  124,  and  is  described  by 
Cicero  as  a  graceful  orator  of  a  sickly  constitution.' 

On  the  gardener's  house,  under  the  clili',  is  a  bust  of  Monsignor 
Bianchini,  who  (c.  1720)  held  this  part  of  the  Palatine  under  a 
lease,  allowing  him  to  mine  for  marbles,  which  he  sold  to  workmen 
for  lime.  One  day  when  walking  here  with  two  prelates  to  whom 
he  was  showing  his  spoils,  he  put  his  foot  into  a  hole,  broke  his 
leg,  and  died  of  it. 

Beyond  this  a  number  of  chambers  have  been  discovered  under 
the  steep  bank  and  ancient  wall  of  the  Palatine  (again  visible  here), 
belonging  to  the  house  of  one  Gelotius — Domus  Gelotiana — bought 
and  added  to  the  imperial  palace  by  Caligula.  It  was  afterwards 
used  as  the  Paedagogium,  or  school  for  the  court  pages,  and  retains  a 
quantity  of  graffiti  which  they  scratched  upon  the  walls.  They  had 
been  previously  at  the  elementary  school  called  paedagogium  ad  caput 
Africae,  and  testified  their  delight  at  being  transferred  from  the  rod 
of  their  master  there  to  the  palace  in  such  inscriptions  as  '  Corinthus 
exit  de  paedagogio  ; '  'Marianus  afer  exit  de  paedagogio.'  Another 
(now  destroyed)  allusion  to  the  hardships  of  school-life  was  a  sketch 
of  an  ass  turning  a  cornmill,  and  the  superscription  '  Labora  aselle 
quomodo  ego  laboravi  et  proderit  tibi '  ('Work,  little  donkey,  as  I 
have  worked,  and  it  will  profit  thee  ').  The  most  interesting  (/raj^^o, 
found  (1857)  in  the  fourth  chamber,  has  been  removed  to  the 
Kircherian  Museum.  It  is  generally  believed  to  have  been  executed 
during  the  reign  of  Septiraius  Severus,  and  to  have  been  done  in 
an  idle  moment  by  one  of  the  soldiers  occujDying  these  rooms, 
supposed  to  have  been  used  as  guard-chambers  under  that  emperor. 
If  so,  it  is  perhaps  the  earliest  existing  pictorial  allusion  to  the 
manner  of  our  Saviour's  death.  It  is  a  caricature  apparently  of  the 
end  of  the  second  century,  evidently  executed  in  ridicule  of  a 
christian  fellow-soldier.     The  figure  on  the  cross  has  an  ass's  head. 


1  Cic.  Bntt.  34. 


'J  12  Walks  in  Rome 

and  bv  the  worsliippinc:  figure  is  inscribed  in  Greek    characters, 
AUxiimrnos  wor.ihips  Ids  O'od.^ 

'  Tho  lowost  orders  of  the  populace  were  as  intcUiizeiitly  hostile  to  it  [the  wor- 
ship of  the  Crueitieil]  as  were  the  philosopliers.  W  itiie.ss  that  remarkable  cari- 
i-uliire  of  tlie  adoration  of  our  crucitted  Lord,  whiili  was  discovered  some  ten 
years  airo  lieiieath  the  ruins  of  the  Palatine  palace.  It  is  a  rou^di  sketch,  traced, 
in  all  prohahilitv,  \>y  the  hand  of  some  pagan  slave  in  one  of  the  earliest  years 
of  the  third  century  of  our  era.  A  human  ti^ure  with  an  ass's  head  is  re- 
presented as  llxed  to  a  cross,  wliile  another  figure  in  a  tunic-  stands  on  one 
side.  This  llfrure  is  addressing;  himself  to  the  crucified  monster,  and  is  making 
a  gesture  which  was  the  customary  pagan  expression  of  adoration.  Under- 
neath there  runs  a  rude  inscription  — ^U('a-«)»?no.s-  ndoren  his  God.  Bere  we  are 
face  to  face  with  a  touching  episode  of  the  life  of  the  Eoman  Church  in  the  days 
of  Severus  or  of  Caracalla.  As  under  Nero,  so,  a  century  and  a  half  later,  there 
were  worshippers  of  Christ  in  the  household  of  Caesar.  But  the  paganism  of 
the  later  date  was  more  intelligently  and  bitterly  hostile  to  the  Church  than 
the  paganism  which  had  shed  the  blood  of  the  apostles.  The  Gnostic  invective 
which  attributed  to  the  .lews  the  worship  of  an  ass  was  applied  by  pagans  indis- 
criminately to  Jews  anil  Christians.  Tacitus  attributes  the  custom  to  a  legend 
respecting  services  rendered  by  wild  asses  to  the  Israelites  in  the  desert ;  "and 
so,  I  suppose,"  observes  Tertuilian,  "it  was  thence  presumed  that  we,  as  bor- 
dering upon  the  Jewish  religion,  were  taught  to  worship  such  a  figure."  Such  a 
story,  once  current,  was  easily  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  a  pagan  caricaturist. 
Whether  from  ignorance  of  the  forms  of  christian  worship,  or  in  order  to  make 
his  parody  of  it  more  generally  intelligilile  to  its  pagan  admirers,  the  draughts- 
man has  ascribed  to  Alexaincnos  the  gestures  of  a  heathen  devotee.  But  the  real 
object  of  his  parody  is  too  plain  to  lie  mistaken.  Jesus  Christ,  we  may  be  sure, 
had  other  confessors  and  worshippers  in  the  imperial  palace  as  well  as  Alexa- 
nienos.  The  moral  pressure  of  the  advancing  Church  was  felt  throughout  all  ranks 
of  jjagan  society ;  ridicule  was  invoked  to  do  the  work  of  argument ;  and  the  moral 
persecution  which  crowned  all  true  christian  devotion  was  often  only  the  pre- 
lude to  a  sterner  test  of  that  loyalty  to  a  crucified  Lord  which  was  as  insensible 
to  the  misrepresentations,  as  christian  faith  was  superior  to  the  logic  of  heathen- 
dom.' 2— Lidrfod,  Bampton  Lecturer  of  1866,  Lect.  vii.  p.  593. 

These  chambers  acquire  a  great  additional  interest  from  the  belief 
which  many  entertain  that  they  are  those  once  occupied  by  the 
Praetorian  Guard,  in  -which  S.  Paul  was  confined. 

'  The  close  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  contains  a  remarkable  example  of 
the  forcible  imagery  of  S.  Paul.  Considered  simply  in  itself,  the  description  of 
the  Christian's  armour  is  one  of  the  most  striking  passages  in  the  sacred  volume. 
But  if  we  view  it  in  connection  with  the  circumstances  with  which  the  Apostle 
was  surrounded,  we  find  a  new  and  living  emphasis  in  his  enumeration  of  all 
the  parts  of  the  heavenly  panoply. — the  belt  of  sincerity  and  truth,  with  which 
the  loins  are  girded  for  the  spiritual  war, — the  breastplate  of  tliat  righteousness 
the  inseparable  links  whereof  are  faith  and  love, — the  strong  sandals,  with  which 
the  feet  of  Christ's  soldiers  are  made  re.ady,  not  for  such  errands  of  death  and 
despair  as  tliose  on  which  the  Praetorian  soldiers  were  daily  sent,  but  for  the 
nniversal  message  of  the  gospel  of  peace, — the  large  shield  of  confident  trust, 
wherewith  the  whole  man  is  protected,  and  wheieon  the  fiery  arrows  of  the 
Wicked  One  fall  harmless  and  dead, — the  close-titting  helmet,  with  which  the 
hope  of  salvation  invests  the  head  of  the  believer, — and  finally,  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit,  the  Word  of  God,  which,  when  wielded  by  the  Great  Captain  of  our  Salva- 


•  Some  authorities  now  contend  that  the  graffito  was  only  a  Gnostic  device  of  a 
figure  with  a  jackal's  head,  representing  the  deity,  which  had  its  origin  in  the 
Egyptian  Anubis.  How  any  one  who  examines  the  graffito  can  see  in  it  a  repre- 
sentation of  rope-dancers  (see  Edinburgh  Review  for  January  1900)  it  is  difficult 
to  imagine. 

2  Padre  Garucci,  S.J.,  has  published  an  exhaustive  monograph  on  this  now 
celeljrated  'Graffito  Blasfemo.'    Roma,  1857. 


The  Paedagogium  213 

tion,  turned  the  tempter  in  the  wilderness  to  flight,  while  in  the  hands  of  His 
chosen  Apostle  (with  whose  memory  the  sword  seems  inseparably  associated),  it 
became  the  means  of  establishing,'  Cliristianity  on  the  earth. 

'  All  this  imagery  becomes  doulily  fc^rcible  if  we  remember  that  when  S.  Paul 
wrote  the  words  he  was  chained  tu  a  soldier,  and  in  the  close  neighbourhood  of 
military  sights  and  sounds.  The  appearance  of  the  Praetorian  guards  was  daily 
familiar  to  him  ;  as  his  "  chains,"  on  the  other  hand  (so  he  tells  us  in  the 
succeeding  Epistle),  became  well  known  throughout  the  whole  Praetornim 
(Phil.  i.  13).  A  difference  of  opinion  has  existed  as  to  the  precise  meaning  of 
the  word  in  this  passage.  Some  have  identified  it,  as  in  the  Authorised  Version, 
with  the  house  of  Caesar  on  the  Palatine  :  more  commonly  it  has  been  supposed 
to  mean  that  permanent  camp  of  the  Praetorian  guards  which  Tiljerius  estab- 
lished on  the  north  of  the  city,  outside  the  walls.  As  regards  the  former 
opinion,  it  is  true  that  the  word  came  to  l»e  used,  almost  as  we  use  the  word 
"palace,"  for  royal  residences  generally  or  for  any  residences  of  princely  splen- 
dour. Yet  we  never  find  the  word  employed  for  the  imperial  house  at  Rome  ; 
and  we  believe  the  truer  view  to  be  that  which  has  l)een  recently  advocated — 
namely,  that  it  denotes  here,  not  the  place  itself,  but  the  quarters  of  that  part 
of  the  imperial  guards  whiclr  was  in  immediate  attendance  upon  the  emperor. 
The  emperor  was  praetor  or  commander-in-chief  of  the  tn  lops,  and  it  was  natural 
that  his  immediate  guard  shoidd  be  in  a  praetorhmi  near  liini.  It  might,  indeed, 
be  argued  that  this  military  establishment  on  the  Palatine  would  cease  to  be 
necessary  when  the  Praetorium  camp  was  established  ;  but  the  purposse  of  that 
establishment  was  to  concentrate  near  the  city  those  cohorts  which  had  pre- 
viously been  dispersed  in  other  parts  of  Italy  :  a  local  body-guard  near  the 
palace  would  not  cease  to  be  necessary ;  and  .Josephus,  in  his  account  of  the 
imprisonment  of  Agrippa,  speaks  of  a  "camp"  in  connection  with  the  "  royal 
house."  Such  we  conceive  to  have  been  the  barrack  immediately  alluded  to  by 
S.  Paul ;  though  the  connection  of  these  smaller  quarters  with  the  general 
camp  was  such  that  he  would  naturally  become  known  to  'Uxll  the  rest  "  of  the 
guards,  as  well  as  those  who  might  for  the  time  be  connected  with  the  imperial 
household. 

'  8.  Paul  tells  us  (in  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians)  that  throughout  the 
Praetorian  quarter  he  was  well  known  as  a  prisoner  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  and 
he  sends  special  salutations  to  the  Philippian  Church  from  the  Christians  of  the 
imperial  household.  These  notices  liring  liefore  us  very  vividly  the  moral  con- 
trasts by  which  the  Apostle  was  surrounded.  The  soldier  to  whom  he  was 
chained  to-day  might  have  been  in  IN'ero's  l)ody-guard  yesterday  ;  his  comrade 
who  next  relieved  guard  might  have  been  one  of  the  executioners  of  Octavia,  and 
might  have  carried  her  head  to  Poppaea  a  few  weeks  before. 

'  History  has  few  stronger  contrasts  than  when  it  shows  us  Paul  preaching 
Christ  under  the  walls  of  Nero's  palace.  Thenceforward  there  were  but  two 
religions  in  the  Roman  world  :  the  worship  of  the  emperor,  and  the  worship  of 
the  Saviour.  The  old  superstitions  had  long  been  worn  out ;  they  had  lost  all 
hold  on  educated  minds.  .  .  .  Over  against  the  altars  of  Nero  and  Poppaea,  the 
voice  of  a  prisoner  was  daily  heard,  and  daily  woke  in  grovelling  souls  the 
consciousness  of  their  divine  destiny.  Men  listened,  and  knew  that  self-sacritice 
was  better  than  ease,  humiliation  more  exalted  than  pride,  to  suffer  nobler  than 
to  reign.  They  felt  that  the  only  religion  which  satisfied  the  needs  of  man  was 
the  religion  of  sorrow,  the  religion  of  self-devotion,  the  religion  of  the  cross.' — 
Conybeare  and  Hoivson. 

We  now  reach  the  hollow  beneath  the  Villa  Mills,  or  Villa 
Palatina — a  convent  of  Visitandine  nuns,  still  (19ti0)  unconfiscated, 
and  occupying  a  mo.st  beautiful  position.  Here  was  the  House  of 
Hortensius,  an  orator,  'who  was  second  only  to  Cicero  in  eloquence, 
and  who,  in  the  early  part  at  least  of  their  lives,  was  his  chief 
opponent.''  Cicero  himself  describes  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  his 
rival,-  as  well  as  the  integrity  with  which  he  fulfilled  the  duties  of 
a  quaestor.^    In  the  latter  portion  of  his  public  career  Hortensius 


1  Dyer,  p.  143.  2  Pro  Quinct.  1,  2,  •22,  24,  26.  :<  In  Verr.  i.  14,  39. 


214  Walks  in  Rome 

was  freriuently  engaged  on  tlie  same  side  as  Cicero,  and  tlien  always 
recognised  his  superiority  by  allowing  hira  to  speak  last.  Horten- 
sius  died  h.c.  uO,  to  the  great  grief  of  his  ancient  rival.i  The 
si)lendid  villas  of  Hortensius  were  celebrated.  He  was  accustomed 
to  water  his  trees  with  wine  at  regular  intervals,'-  and  had  huge 
fishponds  at  Bauli,  into  which  the  salt-water  fish  came  to  feed  from 
his  hand,  and  he  became  so  fond  of  them,  that  he  wept  for  the 
death  of  a  favourite  niuraena.'^  But  his  house  on  the  Palatine  was 
exceedingly  simple,  and  had  no  decorations- but  plain  columns  of 
Alban  stone.'*  This  was  the  chosen  residence  of  Augustus,  until, 
upon  its  destruction  by  fire  in  A. D.  3,  the  citizens  insisted  upon 
raising  the  more  sumptuous  residence  by  public  subscription. 

The  Palace  of  Augustus  was  begun  soon  after  the  battle  of 
Actium.  Part  of  the  ground  which  it  covered  liad  previously  been 
occupied  by  the  villa  of  Catiline.^  Here  Suetonius  says  that 
Augustus  occupied  the  same  bedroom  forty  years.  Here  he  had 
his  collections  and  his  Greek  and  Latin  library,  and  here  his 
grandsons  Caius  and  Lucius  had  their  lessons  in  the  atrium  from 
Verins  Flaccus.  Before  the  entrance  of  the  palace  it  was  ordained 
by  the  Senate,  B.C.  26,  that  two  bay-trees  should  be  planted,  in 
remembrance  of  the  citizens  Augustus  had  preserved,  while  an 
oak  wreath  was  placed  above  the  gate  in  commemoration  of  his 
victories. 

'.Sinsula  dum  niiror,  video  fulgentibus  arniis 

Conspicuos  postes,  lectaque  digna  dec. 
An  Jo  vis  haec,  dixi,  donms  est?    Quod  ut  esse  putarera, 

Auguriuiu  nienti  querna  corona  dabat. 
C'ujiis  ut  accepi  doniinum.  Non  fallimur,  inquani : 

Et  niagni  veruni  est  haiio  .lovis  esse  donmni. 
Cur  tamen  apposita  velatur  janua  lauro, 
Cingit  et  augustas  arbor  opaea  fores?' 

—Ovid,  Trist.  iii.  EL  i.  33. 

'  State,  Palatinae  laurus,  praetextaque  quercu 
Stet  donius ;  aeteruos  tres  habet  una  deos.' 

—Fast.  iv.  953. 

It  was  before  the  gate  of  this  palace  that  Augustus  upon  one 
day  in  every  year  sat  as  a  beggar,  receiving  alms  from  the  passers- 
by,  in  obedience  to  a  vision  that  he  should  thus  appease  Nemesis. 

Behind  the  gardener's  house  above  the  slope  of  the  hill,  the  semi- 
circular form  {pulvinar)  of  the  front  of  the  house  of  Augustus  is 
visible,  whence  the  emperor  could  look  down  upon  the  games  in 
the  Circus  Maxiraus.  But  even  the  lower  part  of  the  valley  has 
been  greatly  filled  up,  and  to  reach  the  real  level  of  the  house 
it  would  be  necessary  to  descend  forty  feet  below  S.  Anastasia, 
where  some  of  the  chambers  are  exposed.  At  the  point  where  we 
are  now,  if  we  ascend  (with  an  order)  the  staircase  behind  the 
gardener's  house,  we  reach  the  cypress  garden  which  till  recently 
belonged  to  the  convent,  and  may  thence,  with  lights,  descend  a 

'  Ad  Att.  vi.  6.  2  iiacrob.  Saturn,  ii.  9. 

•■'  Van-.  H.  It.  iii.  17;  Pliny,  H.  N.  ix.  5.5.  •«  Suet.  Aug.  72. 

•'■'  Veil.  Paterc.  ii.  81. 


Temple  of  Apollo  215 

loner  staircase  leading  to  the  third  storey  of  the  palace  (excavated 
in  1792  by  Raucoureuil),  vast  chambers  and  halls,  splendid  in  pro- 
portion, once  adorned  by  200  statues,^  but  now  stripped  of  all  their 
precious  marbles  by  an  antiquity  vendor  who  rented  them  for  the 
purpose  in  the  last  century,  and  which,  lighted  from  above,  must 
always  have  been  gloomy  in  the  extreme. 

We  have  the  authorit}-  of  Martial-  that  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  temple  of  Cybele  stood  the  Temple  of  Apollo, 
though  Signer  Rosa  places  it  on  this  side  of  tlie  hill  in  the  gardens 
of  S.  Buenaventura,  and  is  followed  by  most  later  authorities.  Its 
remains  have  yet  to  be  discovered. 

'Xothing  could  exceed  the  magnificence  of  this  temple,  according  to  the 
accounts  of  ancient  authors.  Propertius,  who  was  present  at  its  dedication,  has 
devoted  a  short  elegy  to  the  description  of  it,  and  Ovid  describes  it  as  a  splendid 
structure  of  white  marble. 

"  Turn  medium  claro  surgebat  niarmore  teniplum, 
Et  patria  Phoebo  carius  Ortygia. 
Auro  Solis  erat  supra  fastigia  currus, 

Et  valvae,  Libyci  nobile  dentis  opus, 
Altera  dejectos  Paniassi  vertice  Gallos, 

Altera  moerebat  funera  Tantalidos. 
Deinde  inter  niatrem  Deus  ipse,  interque  sororem, 
Pythius  in  longa  carmina  veste  sonat." 

— Projjertius,  El.  ii.  31. 

"  Inde  tenore  pari  gradibus  sublimia  celsis 
Ducor  ad  intonsi  Candida  templa  Dei." 

—Ovid,  Trist.  iii.  El.  1.  59. 

'From  the  epithet  aurea  porticus,  it  seems  probable  that  the  cornice  of  the 
portico  which  surrounded  it  was  gilt.  The  columns  were  of  African  marble, 
or  giallo  antico,  and  must  have  been  fifty-two  in  number,  as  between  them 
were  the  statues  of  the  fifty  Danaids,  and  that  of  their  father,  brandishing  a 
naked  sword. 

"  Quaeris  cur  veniam  tibi  tardior?    Aiu'ea  Phoebi 
Porticus  a  magno  C'aesare  aperta  fuit. 
Tota  erat  in  speciem  Poenis  digesta  columnis  : 
Inter  quas  Danai  foemina  turba  senis." 

—Propert.  El.  ii.  31. 

"  Signa  peregrinis  ulii  sunt  alterna  columnis 
Belides,  et  stricto  barbarus  ense  pater." 

—Oeid,  Trist.  iii.  1.  61. 

'Here  also  was  a  statue  of  Apollo  sounding  the  lyre,  apparently  a  likeness 
of  Augustus  ;  whose  beauty  when  a  youth,  to  judge  from  his  bust  in  the  Vatican, 
might  well  entitle  him  to  counterfeit  the  god.  Around  the  altar  were  the  images 
of  four  oxen,  the  work  of  Myron,  so  beautifully  sculptured  that  they  seemed 
alive.  In  the  middle  of  the  portico  rose  the  temple,  apparently  of  white  marble. 
Over  the  pediment  was  the  chariot  of  the  sun.  The  gates  were  of  ivory,  one  of 
them  sculptured  with  the  story  of  the  giants  hurled  down  from  the  heights  of 
Parnassus,  the  other  representing  the  destruction  of  the  Niobids.  Inside  the 
temple  was  the  statue  of  Apollo  in  a  tunica  talaris,  or  long  garment,  between 
his  mother  Latona  and  his  sister  Diana,  the  work  of  Scopas,  Cephisodorus,  and 
Timotheus.     Under  the  base  of  Apollo's  statue  Augustus  caused  to  be  buried 

1  From  hence  comes  the  fine  head  on  a  cushion  in  the  Museo  delle  Terme, 
and  hence  the  Hercules  of  Lysippus  was  carried  off  by  Cosimo  de'  Medici. 
•-'  Ep.  i   70. 


216  Walks  in  Rome 

the  Silijiliiic  l)ooks.  wliicli  lie  hail  Sfltcted  aiul  placed  in  gilt  chests.  Attached 
U>  the  temple  was  a  lihrary  called  liildiotheca  Grtieca  et  Latina.  apparently,  how- 
ever, only  one  structure,  containir]};  the  literature  of  both  tongues.  Only  the 
choicest  works  were  admitted  to  the  honour  of  a  place  in  it,  as  we  may  infer 
from  Horace  :— 

"Tangere  vitet 
Scripta,  Palatinus  quaecunciue  recepit  Apollo." 

~Ep.  i.  3.  16. 

'Tlie  library  appears  to  have  contained  a  bronze  statue  of  Apollo,  fifty  feet 
high  ;  whence  we  must  conclude  that  the  roof  of  the  hall  exceeded  that  height. 
In  this  lilirary,  or  more  probably,  perhaps,  in  an  adjoining  ajiartmeiit,  poets, 
orators,  and  pliilosophers  recited  their  productions.  The  listless  demeanour  of 
the  audience  on  such  occasions  seems,  from  the  description  of  the  younger  Pliny, 
to  have  been,  in  general,  not  over-encouraging.  Attendance  seems  to  have  been 
considered  as  a  friendly  duty.' — Dyer's  '  City  of  Home.' 

The  Temple  of  Apollo  was  built  by  Augustus  to  commemorate 
tlie  battle  of  Actium.  He  appropriated  to  it  part  of  the  land 
covered  with  houses  which  he  had  purchased  upon  the  Palatine  ;^ 
another  part  he  gave  to  the  Vestals  ;  the  third  he  used  for  his  own 
palace. 

'  Phoebus  habet  partem  ;  Vestae  pars  altera  cessit : 
Quod  superest  illis,  tertius  ipse  tenet. 

Stet  domus  ;  aeternos  tres  habet  una  deos.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  iv.  951. 

Thus  Apollo  and  Vesta  became,  as  it  were,  the  household  gods  of 
Augustus : — 

'  Vestaque  Caesareos  inter  sacrata  penates, 
Et  cum  Caesarea  tu,  Phoebe  domestice,  Vesta.' 

—Ovid,  Metam.  xv.  864. 

But  the  Temple  of  Apollo  was  burnt  in  363. 

(The  saracenic-looking  villa,  which  is  now  turned  into  a  convent, 
possessed  some  frescoes  painted  by  Giulio  Romano  from  designs  of 
Kaffaelle,  but  these  have  been  destroyed  or  removed  in  deference 
to  the  modesty  of  the  present  inhabitants.) 

Ascending  the  hillside  by  a  path  through  a  little  orange-garden, 
we  reach  an  open  space  once  occupied  by  the  garden  of  Augu.stus, 
whither  (in  his  insomnia)  he  used  to  be  carried  on  a  sofa  to  the 
side  of  a  fountain,  that  he  might  be  lulled  to  sleep  by  the  sound  of 
its  falling  waters. ^  Here  we  now  see  the  remains  of  a  Stadium 
for  foot-races,  with  a  large  semicircular  exedra,  or  stand  for 
viewing  the  sports.  The  Stadium  was  built  by  Domitian,  restored 
by  Severus,  and  transformed  into  a  kind  of  amphitheatre  by  King 
Theodoric.  A  passage  on  the  left  communicated  with  the  Domus 
Angustana ;  the  wall  on  the  right  was  the  work  of  Domitian,  who 
lined  the  whole  with  Porta  Santa  marble.  After  110,  when  Hadrian 
extended  the  buildings  of  Domitian,  he  built  the  half-domed  edifice, 

»  His  friend  Maecenas,  also  troubled  by  insomnia,  built  a  villa  at  Tivoli,  that 
he  might  be  lulled  by  the  sound  of  the  waterfall. 


Septizonium  of  Severus  217 

whence  the  imperial  family  used  to  look  down  on  the  games  below. 
Theodoric  probably  placed  at  the  entrance  of  the  Stadium  the  two 
pedestals  removed  from  the  Atrium  Vestae,  which  apparently  sup- 
ported statues  of  the  Vestals,  and  whicli  are  inscribed  to  Cloelia 
Claudiana,  virgo  vestalis  maxima.  Some  of  the  art  treasures  found 
here  are  preserved  in  the  Palazzo  Mattel  and  Villa  Albani. 

The  Stadium  was  approached  by  the  Porticus  Danaiorum — of  the 
fifty  daughters  of  Daniius,  who  were  married  to  the  fifty  sons  of 
Egyptus,  and  who,  with  one  exception,  obeyed  their  father  by 
killing  their  husbands,  for  which  they  were  believed  to  be  punished 
in  Hades  by  being  condemned  to  pour  water  for  ever  through  a 
sieve.  Tiiey  were  represented  here  with  their  father,  and  the  fifty 
husbands  on  horseback  were  in  front.  The  statue  of  the  Muse, 
now  in  the  Museo  delle  Terme,  was  found  here  in  1868,  and  a 
beautiful  Juno,  also  in  the  Museo,  in  1878. 

From  tlie  Stadium  we  enter  the  grand  ruins,  occupying  the 
second  height  of  the  Palatine,  known  as  Palatium,  which  are  by 
far  the  most  picturesque  part  of  the  palace  of  the  Caesars,  and  the 
only  part  not  embedded  in  soil  before  1861.  These  ruins  are  now 
supposed  to  be  remains  of  the  Palace  of  Hadrian,  swallowed  up  in 
the  later  buildings  of  Severus.  Few  compositions  can  be  finer 
than  those  formed  by  the  huge  masses  of  stately  brick  arches, 
standing  out  against  the  soft  hues  and  delicate  blue  and  pink 
shadows  of  the  distant  Campagna,  and  formerly  laden  with  a 
wealth  of  laurustinus,  cytisus,  and  other  flowering  shrubs.  Be- 
neath the  terrace  is  a  fine  range  of  lofty  chambers  on  arches, 
framing  lovely  glimpses  of  the  Alban  hills,  and  the  deserted 
convents  of  the  Pseudo-Aventine.  This  was  the  portion  of  the 
palace  which  longest  remained  entire,  and  which  was  inhabited 
by  Heraclius  in  the  seventli  centur3^  In  the  sixteenth  this  part 
of  the  Palatine  was  owned  by  Tommaso  Inghirami  of  Volteria, 
surnamed  Fedra. 

The  Septizonium  of  Severus,  into  which  part  of  the  palace  of 
Hadrian  was  incorporated,  was  so  called  from  its  seven  storeys  of 
building,  210  feet  high,  erected  A.D.  198,  and  finally  destroyed  in 
1588  by  Sixtus  V.,  who  carried  off  its  materials  for  the  building  of 
S.  Peter's,  making  the  base  of  the  olielisk  in  the  Piazza  del  Popolo, 
and  restoring  other  buildings.  The  Pope  only  paid  900  scudi  for  his 
purchase  of  materials.  The  Septizonium  was  erected  by  Severus  at 
the  southern  corner  of  the  palace,  in  order  that  it  might  at  once  strike 
the  eyes  of  his  African  compatriots  ^  on  their  arrival  in  Rome.  He 
built  two  other  edifices  which  he  called  Septizonium,  one  on  the 
Esquiline  near  the  baths  of  Titus,  and  the  other  on  the  Via  Appia, 
which  he  intended  as  the  burial-place  of  his  family,  and  where  his 
son  Geta  was  actually  interred. 

There  was  probably  a  gate  of  Roma  Quadrata  at  this  corner  of 
the  Palatine.     The  remaining  ruins  in  this  division  of  the  bill,  sup- 


1  Septimhis  Severus  was  born  A.D.  146,  near  Leptis  in  Africa.    Statins  ad- 
dresses a  poem  to  one  of  his  ancestors,  Sept.  Severus  of  Leptis. 


218  Walks  in  Rome 

posed  to  be  those  of  a  theatre,  a  library,  &c..  have  not  yet  been 
historically  identified.  The  arches  seen  in  the  hollow  between  the 
Palatine  and  Coeliau  belong-  tn  the  ghirious  aqueduct  of  four  tiers  of 
arches  made  by  Septimius  Severus  to  carry  the  Aqua  Claudia  from 
the  top  of  the  Coelian  to  the  Palatine. 

Trajan  stripped  the  palace  of  his  predecessors  of  all  its  orna- 
ments to  adorn  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,'  but  it  was  restored 
by  Com  modus,  after  a  tire  which  occurred  in  his  reign,-  and  en- 
riched bv  Heliogabalus,-  and  almost  every  succeeding  emperor,  till 
the  time' of  Thcodoric,''  who  lived  in  the  palace  in  930,  and  restored 
its  aqueduct. 

'  Is  it  illusion?  or  does  there  a  spirit  from  perfecter  ages, 
Here,  even  yet,  amid  loss,  change,  and  corruption,  abide  ? 
Does  there  a  spirit  we  know  not,  tliough  seek  ;  though  we  And,  comprehend  not, 

Hereto  entice  and  confuse,  tempt  and  evade  us,  altide? 
I.ivis  in  the  excjuisite  grace  o."  tlie  column  disjointed  and  single. 

Haunts  the  rude  nuisses  of  bricks  garlanded  gaily  with  vine, 
E'en  in  the  turret  fantastic  surviving  that  springs  from  the  ruin. 
E'en  in  the  people  itself?  is  it  illusion  or  not?' 

— Clough. 

Returning  by  the  way  we  came,  and  ascending  the  ClivusVictoriae, 
we  shall  find  ourselves  again  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  hill  from 
which  we  started,  the  site  once  occupied  by  so  many  of  the  great 
patrician  families,  whose  residence  on  the  Palatine  caused  the  name 
of  /al'ice  to  be  afterwards  applied  to  noble  residences.  Here  at  one 
time  lived  Caius  Gracchus,  who,  to  gratify  the  populace,  gave  up 
his  house  on  the  side  of  the  Palatine,  and  made  his  home  in  the 
gloomy  Suburra.  Here  also  lived  his  coadjutor  in  the  consulship, 
Fulvius  Flaccus,  who  shared  his  fate,  and  whose  house  was  razed 
to  the  ground  by  the  people  after  his  murder.  At  this  corner  of  the 
hill  also  was  the  house  of  Q.  Lutatius  Catulus,  poet,  historian,  and 
builder  of  the  Tabularium,  who  was  consul  102  B.C.,  and  together 
with  Marius  was  conqueror  of  the  Cimbri  in  a  great  battle  near 
Vercelli.  In  memory  of  this  he  founded  a  temple  of  the  '  Fortuna 
hujusce  diei,'  and  decorated  the  portico  of  his  house  with  Cimbrian 
trophies.  Varro  mentions  that  his  house  had  also  a  domed  roof.^ 
Here  also  the  consul  Octavius,  murdered  on  the  Janiculum  by  the 
partisans  of  Marius,  had  a  house,  which  was  rebuilt  with  great 
magnificence  by  Kiuilius  Scaurus,  who  adorned  it  with  columns  of 
marble  thirty-eight  feet  high.''  These  two  last-named  houses  were 
bought  by  the  wealthy  Clodius,  who  gave  14,800,000  sesterces,  or 
about  £180,000,  for  that  of  Scaurus,  and  throwing  down  the  Portions 
Catuli,  included  its  site,  and  the  house  of  E.  Scaurus,  in  his  own 
magnificent  dwelling.  Clodius  was  a  member  of  the  great  house 
of  the  Claudii,  and  was  the  favoured  lover  of  Pompeia,  wife  of 
Julius  Caesar,  by  whose  connivance,  disguised  as  a  female  musician, 
he  attempted  to  be  present  at  the  orgies  of  the  Bona  Dea,  which 


1  Martial,  xii.  Ei?.  75.        '-  Dion  Cass.  Cnminod.        ■'  Lamprid,  Elagah.  8. 
■•  ra«sliMl.  vii.  fi.  5  D,,  Jic  Jtuxt.  iii.  .">.  "  Pliny,  xxxvi.  2. 


House  of  Cicero  219 

were  celebrated  in  the  house  of  the  Fontifex  Maximus,  close  to  the 
Temple  of  Vesta,  and  from  which  men  were  so  carefully  excluded 
that  even  a  male  mouse,  says  Juvenal,  dared  not  show  himself 
there.  The  position  of  his  own  dwelling,  and  that  of  the  Fontifex, 
close  to  the  foot  of  the  Clivus  Victoriae,  afforded  every  facility  for 
this  adventure,  but  it  was  discovered  by  his  losing  himself  in  the 
passages  of  the  llegia.  A  terrible  scandal  was  the  result :  Caesar 
divorced  Pompeia,  and  the  senate  referred  the  matter  to  the  ponti- 
fices,  who  declared  that  Clodius  was  guilty  of  sacrilege.  Clodius 
attempted  to  prove  an  alibi,  but  Cicero's  evidence  showed  that  he 
was  with  him  in  Rome  only  three  hours  before  he  pretended  to  be 
at  Interamna.  Bribery  and  intimidation  secured  his  acquittal  by  a 
majority  of  thirty-one  to  twenty-five,'  but  from  this  time  a  deadly 
enmity  ensued  between  him  and  Cicero. 

The  house  of  Clodius  naturally  leads  us  to  that  of  Cicero,  which 
was  also  situated  at  this  corner  of  the  Palatine,  whence  he  could 
see  his  clients  in  the  Forum  and  go  to  and  fro  to  his  duties  there. 
This  house  had  been  built  for  M.  Livius  Drusus,  who,  when  his 
architect  proposed  a  plan  to  prevent  its  being  overlooked,  answered, 
'  Rather  build  it  so  that  all  my  fellow-citizens  may  behold  every- 
thing that  I  do. '  In  his  acts  Drusus  seemed  to  imitate  the  Gracchi  ; 
but  he  sought  popularity  for  its  own  sake,  and  after  being  the 
object  of  a  series  of  conspiracies,  was  finally  murdered  in  the 
presence  of  his  mother  Cornelia,  in  his  own  hall,  where  the  image 
of  his  father  was  sprinkled  with  his  blood.  When  dying  he  turned 
to  those  around  him,  and  asked,  with  characteristic  arrogance, 
based  perhaps  upon  conscious  honesty  of  purpose,  '  When  will  the 
commonwealth  have  a  citizen  like  me  again  ? '  After  the  death  of 
Drusus  the  house  was  inhabited  by  L.  Licinius  Crassus  the  orator, 
who  lived  here  in  great  elegance  and  luxury.  His  house  was  called, 
from  its  beauty,  '  the  Venus  of  the  Palatine,'  and  was  remarkable 
for  its  size,  the  taste  of  its  furniture,  and  the  beauty  of  its  grounds. 
'It  was  adorned  with  pillars  of  Hymettian  marble,  with  expensive 
vases,  and  triclinia  inlaid  with  brass.  His  gardens  were  provided 
with  fishponds,  and  some  noble  lotus-trees  sliaded  his  walks. 
Ahenobarbus,  his  colleague  in  the  censorship,  found  fault  with  such 
corruption  of  manners,-  estimated  his  house  at  a  hundred  million, 
or,  according  to  Valerius  Maximus,-*  six  million  sesterces,  and  com- 
plained of  his  crying  for  the  loss  of  a  lamprey  as  if  it  had  been  a 
daughter.  It  was  a  tame  lamprey,  which  used  to  come  at  the  call 
of  Crassus  and  feed  out  of  his  hand.  Crassus  retorted  by  a  public 
speech  against  his  colleague,  and  by  his  great  powers  of  ridicule 
turned  him  into  derision,  jested  upon  his  name  ;  ■*  and  to  the  accusa- 
tion of  weeping  for  a  lamprey,  replied  that  it  was  more  than 
Ahenobarbus  had  done  for  the  loss  of  any  of  his  three  wives. ** 
Cicero  purchased  the  house  of  Crassus  a  year  or  two  after  his 


1  See  Smith's  'Diet,  of  Roman  Biography.'  2  piin.  //.  JV'.  xvii.  1. 

»  Val.  Max.  ix.  1.  *  Suet.  Nero.  2. 

5  Smith's  'Diet,  of  Roman  rsidiimjihii.' 


220  Walks  in  Rome 

coiiMilate  for  a  sum  equal  to  about  fH(),UO(),  and  removed  thither 
from  tlic  Carinae  with  his  wife  Terentia.  His  house  was  close  to 
that  of  Clodius,  but  a  little  lower  down  the  hill,  which  enabled  him 
to  threatpn  to  increase  the  height,  so  as  to  shut  out  his  neighbour's 
view  of  the  city.'  Upon  his  accession  to  the  Iribuneship  Clodius 
procured  the  disgrace  of  Cicero,  and  after  his  flight  to  Greece, 
obtained  a  decree  of  banishment  against  him.  He  then  pillaged 
and  destroyed  his  house  upon  the  Palatine,  as  well  as  liis  villas  at 
Tusculum  and  Formiae,  and  obliged  Terentia  to  take  refuge  with 
the  Vestals,  whose  superior  was  fortunately  her  sister.  But  in  the 
following  year,  a  change  of  consuls  and  revulsion  of  the  popular 
favour  led  to  tlie  recall  of  Cicero,  who  found  part  of  his  house 
appropriated  by  Clodius,  who  had  erected  a  shrine  to  Libertas  (with 
a  statue  which  was  that  of  a  Greek  courtesan  carried  off  from  a 
tomb)  on  the  site  of  the  remainder,  which  he  had  razed  to  the 
ground. - 

'Clmlius  liad  also  destniyed  the  portico  of  Catuhis  :  in  fact,  he  appears  to  have 
been  desirous  of  appropriating  all  this  side  of  the  Palatine.  He  wanted  to  buy 
the  house  of  the  aedile  Seius.  Seius  having  declared  that  so  long  as  he  lived 
Clodius  should  not  have  it,  Clodius  caused  him  to  be  poisoned,  and  then  bought 
his  house  under  a  feigned  name  !  He  was  thus  enabled  to  erect  a  portico  three 
hundred  feet  in  length,  in  place  of  that  of  Catulus.  The  latter,  however,  was 
afterwards  restored  at  the  pul^lic  expense. 

'Cicero  obtained  puldic  grants  for  the  restoration  of  his  house  and  of  his 
Tuscuhui  and  J^'ormian  villas,  but  very  far  from  enough  to  cover  the  losses  he 
had  suffered.  The  aristocratic  part  of  the  Senate  appears  to  have  envied  and 
grudged  the  hoiks  homo  to  whose  abilities  they  looked  for  protection.  He  was 
advised  not  to  rebuild  his  house  on  the  Palatine,  but  to  sell  the  ground.  It  was 
not  in  Cicero's  temper  to  take  such  a  course,  but  he  was  hampered  ever  after 
with  debts.  Clodius,  who  had  been  defeated  but  not  beaten,  still  continued  his 
persecutions.  He  organised  a  gang  of  street  boys  to  call  out  under  Cicero's 
windows.  "Bread!  Bread!"  His  baud  interrupted  the  dramatic  performances 
on  the  Palatine,  at  the  Megalesian  games,  by  rushing  ujjon  the  stage.  On 
another  occasion,  Clodius,  at  the  head  of  his  myrmidons,  besieged  the  Senate  in 
the  Temple  of  Concord.  He  attacked  Cicero  in  the  streets,  to  the  danger  of  his 
life ;  and  when  he  had  begun  to  rebuild  his  house,  drove  away  the  masons, 
overthrew  what  part  had  been  re-erected  of  Catulus's  portico,  and  cast  burn- 
ing torches  into  the  house  of  Quintus  Cicero,  which  he  had  hired  next  to  his 
brother's  on  the  Palatine,  and  consumed  a  great  part  of  it.' — Dyer's  ^  City  of 
Home,'  p.  I.'j2. 

The  indemnity  which  Cicero  received  from  the  State  in  order 
to  rebuild  his  house  on  the  Palatine  amounted  to  about  £1G,000. 
The  house  of  Quintus  Cicero  was  rebuilt  close  to  his  brother's 
at  the  same  time  by  Cyrus,  the  fashionable  architect  of  the 
day.^ 

Among  other  noble  householders  on  this  part  of  the  Palatine 
was  Mark  Antony,-*  whose  house  was  afterwards  given  by  Augustus 
to  Agrippa  and   Messala,   soon  after  which  it  was  burnt  down. 


'  'Tollani  altius  tectum,  non  ut  ego  te  despiciam,  sed  ne  tu  a.spicias  urbem 
earn,  quam  delere  voluisti.'— /)e  Ilaiiigp.  Res.  15. 

2  Cic.  I'ru.  Lorn,  ad  Pont,  42. 

3  See  Ampere,  llist.  Rom.  Iv.  528. 
■•  Dion.  Cass.  iii.  27. 


Temple  of  Augustus  221 

Caligula  pulled  down  all  the  great  houses  of  subjects  which  re- 
mained upon  the  Palatine  to  build  his  palace. 


To  the  left  of  the  main  (week-daj)  entrance  to  the  Palace  of  the 
Caesars  are  the  huge  ruins  of  the  Temple  of  Augustus— Templum 
Divi  Augusti — begun  by  Livia  and  Tiberius,  finished  by  Caligula, 
and  restored  by  Domitian.  It  was  used  as  a  museum  for  some  of 
the  precious  works  of  art  and  curiosities  collected  by  Augustus. 
The  temple  had  two  inner  halls,  of  which  that  nearest  to  the  Forum 
was  turned  into  a  christian  church  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century — 
S.  Maria  Antiqua — ending  in  an  apse  decorated  with  frescoes,  in 
which  the  sainted  Pope  Paul  I.  (757-767)  was  represented.  A 
passage  through  the  wall  seven  feet  thick  connected  it  with  the 
Augusteum,  and  was  discovered  in  1885,  adorned  with  (vanished) 
frescoes  representing  processions  of  the  Basilian  and  Benedictine 
monks,  who  had  convents  on  the  Palatine  at  S.  Cesario  in  Palatio 
and  S.  Sebastiano  in  Pallara.  The  worship  of  Christ  was  estab- 
lished in  this  church  before  the  worship  of  Vesta,  hard  by,  was 
extinct  :  their  hymns  must  have  mingled. 

Close  by,  under  the  Clivus  Victoriae,  was  the  Fens  Juturnae,  the 
spring  of  Juturna,  which  fed  the  pool  called  Lacus  Curtius.  This 
corner  of  the  Palatine  was  subject  to  sudden  outbursts  of  water, 
whence  probably  it  was  known  in  the  Middle  Ages  as  Hell  (Inferno), 
and  whence  perhaps  also  the  name  of  the  adjoining  church,  'S. 
Maria  libera  nox  a  poenis  Inferni.' 

Commendatore  Rosa  collected  all  the  objects  found  in  the 
palace  since  the  excavations  in  an  interesting  little  museum  on  the 
Palatine,  but  they  have  now  all  been  removed  to  the  Museo  delle 
Terme,  where  they  have  lost  their  interest  and  individuality. 


CHAPTER    VII 
THE  COELIAN 

S.  GreRorio— SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo— Arch  of  Dolabella— S.  Tomniaso  in  Foiniis— 
Villa  Mattel— S.  Maria  ilella  Navicella-S.  Stefano  Rotondo— I  Santi  Quattro 
Incoronati— S.  Clenieute. 

THE  Coelian  Hill  extends  from  S.  John  Lateran  to  the  Vio:na  of 
the  Porta  Capena,  and  from  the  Fountain  of  Egeria  to  the 
Convent  of  S.  Gregorio.  Till  very  recently  it  has  been  entirely 
uninhabited,  except  by  monks  of  tlie  Camaldolese,  Passionist,  and 
Redemptorist  Orders,  and  by  the  Augustinian  Nuns  of  the  Inco- 
ronati ;  but  no  part  of  Rome  has  been  more  cruelly  dealt  with  since 
the  change  of  government  than  this  interesting  district. 

In  the  earliest  times  the  name  of  this  hill  was  Mons  Querque- 
tulanus,  'The  Hill  of  Oaks,'  and  it  was  clothed  with  forest,  part  of 
which  long  remained  as  the  sacred  wood  of  the  Camenae.  It  first 
received  its  name  of  Coelius  from  Coelius  Vibenna,  an  Etruscan 
Lucumo  of  Ardea,  who  is  said  to  have  come  to  the  assistance  of 
Romulus  in  his  war  against  the  Sabine  king  Tatius,  and  to  have 
afterwards  established  himself  here.  In  the  reign  of  TuUus  Hos- 
tilius  the  Coelian  assumed  some  importance,  as  that  king  fixed 
his  residence  here,  and  transported  hither  the  Latin  population  of 
Alba. 

As  the  Coelian  had  a  less  prominent  share  in  the  history  of  Rome 
than  any  of  the  other  liills,  it  preserves  scarcely  any  historical 
monuments  of  pagan  times.  All  those  which  existed  under  the 
republic  were  destroyed  by  a  great  fire  which  ravaged  this  hill  in 
the  reign  of  Tiberius, i  except  the  Temple  of  the  Nymphs,  which 
once  stood  in  the  grove  of  the  Camenae,  and  which  had  been 
already  burnt  by  Clodius,  in  order  to  destroy  the  records  of  his 
falsehoods  and  debts  which  it  contained.-  Some  small  remains  in 
the  garden  of  the  Passionist  convent  are  attributed  to  the  temple 
which  Agrippina  raised  to  her  husband  the  Emperor  Claudius,  and 
in  S.  Stefano  Rotondo  some  antiquaries  recognise  the  Macellum  of 
Nero.  There  are  no  remains  of  the  palace  of  the  Emperor  Tetricus, 
who  lived  here,  'between  the  two  sacred  groves,'"  in  a  magnificent 
captivity  under  Aurelian,  whom  he  received  here  at  a  banquet,  at 

I  Dyer's  Rome,  p.  222.  -  Ampfere,  Hist.  Rom.  iv.  460. 

3  Trebellius  Pollio. 

222 


The  Coelian  223 

which  he  exhibited  an  allegorical  pictui'e  representing  his  reception 
of  the  empire  of  Gaul,  and  his  subsequent  resignation  of  it  for  the 
simple  insignia  of  a  Eoman  senator.' 

To  the  christian  visitor,  however,  the  Coelian  will  always  prove 
of  the  deepest  interest ;  and  the  slight  thread  of  connection  which 
runs  between  all  its  principal  objects,  as  well  as  their  nearness  to 
one  another,  brings  them  pleasantly  within  the  limits  of  a  single 
day's  excursion.  Many  of  those  who  are  not  mere  passing  visitors 
at  Rome  will  probably  find  that  their  chief  pleasure  lies  not  amid 
the  well-known  sights  of  the  great  basilicas  and  palaces,  but  in 
quiet  walks  through  the  silent  lanes  and  amid  the  decaying 
buildings  of  these  more  distant  hills.  As  many  as  possible  of  these 
have  been  destroyed  since  the  change  of  government,  but  a  few 
(1896)  still  remain. 

'The  recollection  of  Rome  will  come  back,  after  many  years,  in  images  of  long 
delicious  strolls,  in  musing  loneliness,  through  the  deserted  ways  of  the  ancient 
city;  of  climl)ing  among  its  hills,  over  ruins,  to  reach  .some  vantage-ground  for 
mapping  out  the  adjacent  territory,  and  looking  beyond  on  the  glorious  chains 
of  greater  and  lesser  mountains,  clad  in  their  imperial  hues  of  gold  and  purple  ; 
and  then,  perhaps,  of  solemn  entrance  into  the  cool  solitude  of  an  open  basilica, 
where  your  thought  now  rests,  as  your  body  then  did,  after  the  silent  evening 
prayer,  and  brings  forward  from  many  well-remembered  nooks  every  local  in- 
scription, every  lovely  monument  of  art.  the  characteristic  feature  of  each,  or 
the  great  names  with  which  it  is  associated.  The  Liberian  speaks  to  you  of 
Bethlehem  and  its  treasured  mysteries  ;  the  Sessorian,  of  Calvary  and  its  touching 
relics.  Baronius  gives  you  his  injunctions  on  christian  architecture  inscribed, 
as  a  legacy,  in  his  title  of  Fasciola ;  S.  Dominic  lives  in  the  fresh  paintings  of  a 
faithful  disciple,  on  the  walls  of  the  opposite  church  of  S.  Xystus  ;  there  stands 
the  chair  and  there  hangs  the  hat  of  S.  Charles  as  if  he  had  just  left  his  own 
church,  from  which  he  calls  himself  in  his  signature  to  letters,  "  the  Cardinal  of 
S.  Praxedes;"  near  it,  in  a  sister  church,  is  fresh  the  memory  of  S.  Justin 
Martyr,  addressing  his  apologies  for  Christianity  to  heathen  emperor  and  senate, 
and  of  Pudens  and  his  British  spouse  ;  and  far  beyond  the  city  gates  the  cheerful 
Philip-  is  seen  kneeling  at  S.  Sebastiauo,  waiting  for  the  door  to  the  Platonia  to 
be  opened  for  him,  that  he  may  vratch  the  night  through  in  the  martyr's  dor- 
mitory.'— Wisemans  '  Life  of  Leo  XII.' 

'  For  myself,  I  must  say  that  I  know  nothing  to  compare  with  a  pilgrimage 
among  the  antique  churches  scattered  over  the  Esquiline,  the  Coelian,  and  the 
Aventine  Hills.  They  stand  ajiart,  each  in  its  solitude,  amid  gardens  and  vine- 
yards and  heaps  of  nameless  ruins ; — here  a  group  of  cypresses,  there  a  lofty 
pine  or  solitary  palm  ;  the  tutelary  .saint,  perhaps  some  Sant'  Achilleo  or  Santa 
Bibiana,  whom  we  never  heard  of  before — an  altar  rich  in  precious  marbles — 
columns  of  porphyry — the  old  frescoes  dropping  from  the  walls— the  everlasting 
colossal  mosaics  looking  down  so  solemn,  so  dim,  so  spectral  ;  these  grow  upon 
us,  until  at  each  succeeding  visit  they  themselves,  and  the  associations  by 
which  they  are  surrounded,  become  a  part  of  our  daily  life,  and  may  be  said  to 
hallow  that  daily  life  when  considered  in  a  right  spirit.  True,  what  is  most 
sacred,  what  is  most  poetical,  is  often  desecrated  to  the  fancy  by  the  intrusion 
of  those  prosaic  realities  which  easily  strike  prosaic  minds ;  by  disgust  at  the 
foolish  fabrications  which  those  who  recite  them  do  not  believe,  by  lying  inscrip- 
tions, by  tawdry  pictures,  by  tasteless  and  even  profane  restorations  ; — by  much 
that  saddens,  much  that  offends,  much  that  disappoints— but  then  so  much 
remains  !  So  much  to  awaken,  to  elevate,  to  touch  the  heart;  so  much  that  will 
not  pass  away  from  the  memory  ;  so  much  that  makes  a  part  of  our  after-life.' — 
Mrs.  Jameson. 


1  Gibbon,  v.  1.  "  S.  Filippo  Neri. 


224  Walks  in  Eome 

We  may  pass  undtT  the  Arch  of  Constantine,'  or  throii£rh  the 
pleasant  sunny  walks  known  as  the  Parco  di  San  Gregorio— planted 
bv  the  French  during  their  first  occupation  of  Kome,  but  which 
niay  almost  be  regarded  as  a  remnant  of  the  sacred  grove  of  the 
Caraenae  which  once  occupied  this  site.  Here  is  the  Museo  al 
Cello,  or  Museo  Archeologico  Urbano,  to  which  the  less  important 
objects  recently  discovered  in  the  city  have  been  brought.  It  is 
deeply  interesting  to  students,  but  scarcely  attractive  to  the  casual 
visitor.  The  contents  are  still  in  a  transition  state.  We  may 
notice : — 

Room  I.  Specimens  of  jirecious  marbles. 

Room  2.  Fragments  of  sculpture. 

Ruom  3.  Otijects  from  the  Esquiline  cemetery.    Keniains  of  a  water  conduit. 

Room  4.  Ex  votos  in  terra-cotta.    Kepublican  inscriptions  on  travertine  anrl 

peperino. 
Room  .=).  Several  fine  busts.    That  of  Hephaestus  has  traces  of  gilding  and 

painting. 
Room  6.  'Water-pipes  of  various  kinds.    The  inscription  to  Caius  Duilius  from 

the  Forum  of  Augustus. 

(Open  Mondays  and  Fridays  from  1-5,  and  Wednesdays  9-1  ;  ad- 
mission 25  c.) 

The  farther  gate  of  the  Parco  opens  on  a  small  triangular  piazza, 
whence  a  broad  flight  of  steps  leads  up  to  the  Church  of  S.  Gregorio, 
to  the  English  pilgrim  one  of  the  most  interesting  spots  in  Kome, 
for  it  was  at  the  head  of  these  steps  that  S.  Augustine  took  his 
last  farewell  of  Gregory  the  Great,  and,  kneeling  on  the  greensward 
below,  the  first  missionaries  of  England  received  the  parting  bless- 
ing of  the  great  pontiff,  as  he  stood  on  the  height  in  the  gateway. 
As  we  enter  the  portico  (built  1633  by  Cardinal  Scipio  Borghese), 
we  see  on  either  side  two  world-famous  inscriptions. 
On  the  right : — 

Adsta  hospes 

et  lege. 

Hie  olim  fuit  M.  Gregori  donnis, 

Ipse  in  monasterium  convertit, 

TTbi  monasticen  professus  est 

Et  diu  abbas  praefuit. 

Monachi  primum  Benedictini 

Mox  Graeci  lenuere, 

Dein  Benedictini  iterum 

Post  varios  casus 

Quum  jamdiu 

Esset  commendatnm 

Et  poene  desertum. 

Anno  MDLXXIII 

Camaldulenses  indueti 

Qui  et  industria  sua 

Et  ope  plurium 

R.  E.  Cardinalium 

Quorum  hie  monnmenta  exstant, 

Favente  etiain  Clemente  XI.  P.  M. 

Templum  et  adjacentes  aedes 

In  hanc  quara  cernis  formani 

Restituerunt. 

1  The  road  crosses  a  great  cloaca,  which  enters  the  Tiber  near  the  Cloaca 
Maxima,  and  is  built  of  enormous  blocks,  and  well  preserved. 


S.  Gregorio  225 

On  the  left:  — 

Ex  hoc  nionasterio 
Prodierunt 
S.  Gregorius  M.  Fuiuiator  et  Parens. 
S.  Eleutheriiis,  AB.     Hilarion,  AB. 
S.  Augustimis,  Anglor.  Apostol. 
S.  Laurentius,  Caiituar.  Arohiep. 
S.  Mellitus,  Londinen.  Ep.  niox 

Archiep.  Cantuar. 
S.  Justus,  Ep.  Kotfeiisis. 
S.  Paulinus,  Ep.  Eborac. 
S.  Maximianus,  Syracusan.  Ep. 
SS.  Antonius,  Merulus,  et  Joannes,  Monachi. 
S.  Petrus,  AB.  Cantuar. 

Marinianus,  Archiep.  Raven. 
Probus,  Xenodochi  Jero.solymit. 
Curator.  A.  S.  Gregorio  Elect. 
Sabinus  Callipolit.  Ep. 
Gregorius,  Diac.  Card.  S.  Eustach. 
Hie  .  Etiani  .  Din  .  Vixit .  JVI.  Gregovi 
Mater  .  S.  Silvia  .  Hoc  .  Maxime 
Colenda  .  Quod  .  Tantuni  .  Pietatis 
Sapientiae  .  Et .  Uoctrinae  .  Lumen 
Pepererit. 

Cette  ville  incomparable  renferme  pen  de  sites  plus  attrayants  et  plus  dignes 
d'eternelle  memoire.  Ce  sanctuaire  occupe  Tangle  occidental  du  mont  Coelius. 
...  II  est  a  egale  distance  du  grand  Cirque,  des  Thermes  de  Caracalla  et  du 
Colisee,  tout  proche  de  I'eglise  des  saints  martyrs  Jean  et  Paul.  Le  berceau  du 
christianisme  de  I'Augleterre  touche  ainsi  au  sol  trenipe  par  le  sang  de  tant  de 
milliers  de  martyrs.  En  face  s'elt;ve  le  mont  Palatin,  berceau  de  E,ome  paienne, 
encore  convert  des  vastes  debris  du  palais  des  Cesars.  .  .  .  Ou  est  done  I'Anglais 
digne  de  ce  nom  qui,  en  portant  son  regard  du  Palatin  au  Colis(5e,  pourrait  con- 
templer  sans  emotion  ce  coin  de  terre  d'ou  lui  sent  venus  la  foi,  le  nom  Chretien 
et  la  Bible  dont  il  est  si  fier.  Voila  oil  les  enfants  esclaves  de  ses  aieux  6taient 
recueillis  et  sauves  !  Sur  ces  pierres  s'agenouillaient  ceux  qui  out  fait  sa  patrie 
chr^tienne  !  Sous  ces  voiites  a  ete  conqu  par  una  ame  sainte,  confle  a  Dieu,  b(ini 
par  Dieu,  acceptt5  et  accompli  par  d'humbles  et  gen^reux  Chretiens,  le  grand 
dessein  !  Par  ces  degres  sont  descendus  les  quarante  moines  qui  ont  porte  a 
I'Angleterre  la  parole  de  Dieu,  la  lumiere  de  I'Evangile,  la  succession  apostolique 
et  la  rfegle  de  Saint  Beuoit ! ' — Montalembeit,  'Moines  d'Occident.' 

Hard  by  was  the  house  of  S.  Silvia,  mother  of  S.  Gregory,  of 
which  the  ruins  still  remain,  opposite  to  the  church  of  SS.  Giovanni 
e  Paolo,  and  in  the  little  garden  which  still  exists  we  may  believe 
that  he  played  as  a  child  under  his  mother's  care.  Close  to  his 
mother's  home  he  founded  the  monastery  of  S.  Andrew,  to  which 
he  retired  from  the  world,  taking  nothing  with  him  but  his  favourite 
cat,  and  in  which  he  dwelt  for  many  years  as  a  monk,  employed 
in  writing  homilies,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  visionary  conversation 
with  the  Virgin,  whom  he  believed  to  answer  him  in  person  from 
her  picture  before  which  he  knelt.  To  this  monastery  he  presented 
his  own  portrait,  with  those  of  his  father  and  mother,  which  were 
probably  in  existence  300  years  after  his  death  ;  and  this  portrait 
of  himself  probably  furnished  that  peculiar  type  of  physiognomy 
which  we  trace  in  all  the  best  representations  of  him.i  During  the 
life  of  penance  and  poverty  which  was  led  here  by  S.  Gregory,  he 

1  Mrs.  Jameson. 


226  Walks  in  Rome 

sold  all  Ills  goods  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  retaining  nothing  but 
a  silver  basin  given  him  by  his  mother.  One  day  a  poor  shipwrecked 
sailor  came  several  times  to  beg  in  the  cell  where  he  was  writing, 
and,  as  he  liad  no  money,  he  gave  him  instead  this  one  remaining 
treasure.  A  long  time  after  S.  Gregory  saw  the  same  shipwrecked 
sailor  reappear  in  tlie  form  of  his  guardian  angel,  who  told  him  that 
God  had  henceforth  destined  him  to  rule  his  Churcli,  and  become 
the  successor  of  S.  Peter,  whose  charity  he  had  imitated.^ 

'  Un  nioine(A.D.1690)  va  monter  pour  la  premiere  fois  surla  chaire  apostolique. 
Ce  nioiiie,  le  plus  illustre  de  tous  ceux  <(ui  soiit  compte  parnii  les  souverains 
poiitifes,  y  rayonnera  d  un  eclat  qu'aucun  de  ses  pr6deeesseurs  n'a  egale  et  qui 
rejaillira,  coninie  une  sanction  supreme,  sur  I'institut  dont  il  est  issu.  Gregoire, 
le  seul  parmi  les  hommes  avec  le  Pape  Liion  I^"'  qui  ait  reciu  u  la  fois,  du  con- 
sentement  universel,  le  double  suniom  de  Saint  et  de  Grand,  sera  I'eternel 
honneur  de  I'Ordre  benedictiu  coninie  de  la  papaut6.  Par  son  genie,  mais  sur- 
tout  par  le  charnie  et  I'ascendant  de  sa  vertu,  il  organisera  le  domaine  tempore) 
des  papes,  il  developpera  et  regularisera  leur  souverainete  spirituelle,  il  fondera 
leur  paternelle  suprematie  sur  les  royautes  naissautes  et  les  nations  nouvelles 
qui  vont  devenir  les  grands  peuples  de  I'avenir,  et  s'appeler  la  France,  I'Espagne, 
I'Angleterre.  A  vrai  dire,  c'est  lui  qui  inaugure  le  moyen  dge,  la  society  moderne 
et  la  civilisation  chr6tienne.' — Montalembert. 

The  church  of  S.  Gregory  is  approached  by  a  cloistered  court 
filled  with  monuments.  On  the  left  is  that  of  Sir  Edward  Carne, 
one  of  the  commissioneis  to  obtain  the  opinion  of  foreign  univer- 
sities respecting  the  divorce  of  Henry  VIII.  from  Catherine  of 
Arragon,  ambassador  to  Charles  Y.,  and  afterwards  to  the  court  of 
Rome.  He  was  recalled  when  the  embassy  was  suppres.'^ed  by 
Elizabeth,  but  was  kept  at  Rome  by  Paul  IV.,  who  had  conceived 
a  great  affection  for  him,  and  he  died  here  in  1561.  Another  monu- 
ment of  an  exile  for  the  Catholic  faith  is  that  of  Robert  Pecham, 
who  died  in  1567,  inscribed  : — 

'  Roberto  Pecham  Anglo,  equiti  aurato,  Philippi  et  Mariae  Angliae  et  Hispan. 
regibus  olim  a  consiliis  genere  religione  virtute  praeclaro,  qui,  cum  patriam  suani 
a  tide  catholica  deflcientem  adspicere  sine  sunimo  dolore  non  posset,  reliclis 
omnibus  quae  in  hac  vita  carissima  essesolent,  in  voluntariumprofectusexilium, 
post  sex  annos,  pauperibus  Christi  heredibus  testamento  institutis,  sanctissime  e 
vita  niigravit.' 

The  Church,  one  of  the  most  interesting  in  Italy,  was  profanely 
rebuilt  in  1734,  under  Francesco  Ferrari.  It  has  sixteen  ancient 
granite  columns  and  a  ^neopus-alexandrinuni\ja.\enient.  Among  its 
monuments  w-e  may  observe  that  of  Cardinal  Zurla,  a  learned  writer 
on  geographical  subjects,  who  was  abbot  of  the  adjoining  convent. 
It  was  a  curious  characteristic  of  the  laxity  of  morals  in  the  time 
of  Julius  II.  (1503-13),  that  her  friends  did  not  hesitate  to  bury  the 
famous  Aspasia  of  that  age  in  this  church,  and  to  inscribe  upon 
her  tomb:  'Imperia,  cortisana  Romana,  quae  digna  tanto  nomine, 
rarae  inter  homines  formae  specimen  dedit.  Vixit  annos  xxvi. 
dies  xii.  obiit  1511,  die  15  Augusti.'  But  this  monument  has  now 
been  removed. 

'  Montalembert,  '  Moines  d' Occident.' 


S.  Gregorio  227 

At  the  end  of  the  right  aisle  is  a  picture  by  Badalocchi,  com- 
memorating a  miracle  on  this  spot,  when,  at  the  moment  of  eleva- 
tion, the  Host  is  said  to  have  bled  in  the  hands  of  S.  Gregory,  to 
convince  an  unbeliever  of  the  truth  of  transubstantiation.  It  will 
be  observed  that  in  this  and  in  most  other  representations  of 
S.  Gregory,  a  dove  is  perched  upon  his  shoulder,  and  whispering 
into  his  ear.  This  is  commemorative  of  the  impression  that  every 
word  and  act  of  the  saint  was  directly  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
a  belief  first  engendered  by  the  happy  promptitude  of  Peter,  his 
archdeacon,  who  invented  the  story  to  save  the  beloved  library  of 
his  master,  which  was  about  to  be  destroyed  after  his  death  by  the 
people,  in  a  pitiful  spirit  of  revenge,  because  they  fancied  that  a 
famine  which  was  decimating  them  had  been  brought  about  by 
the  extravagance  of  Gregory,  i  An  altar  beneath  this  picture  is 
decorated  with  marble  reliefs,  by  Mino  da  Fiesole,  representing 
the  same  miracle,  and  also  the  story  of  the  soul  of  the  Emioeror 
Trajan  being  freed  from  purgatory  by  the  intercession  of  Gregory. 
(Chap.  IV.  p.  ]  10.)  The  reredos  belonging  to  this  altar,  moved  from 
its  original  site,  still  remains  in  the  north-east  chapel. 

A  low  door  near  this  leads  into  the  monastic  cell  of  S.  Gregory 
containing  his  marble  chair,  and  the  spot  where  his  bed  laj', 
inscribed  : — 

'  Nocte  dieque  vigil  loiigo  hie  defessa  labore 
Gregorius  modica  membra  quiete  levat.' 

Here  also  an  immense  collection  of  minute  relics  of  saints  is  exposed 
to  the  veneration  of  the  credulous. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  church  is  the  Salviati  Chapel,  the 
burial-place  of  that  noble  family,  modernised  in  IBilO  by  Carlo 
Maderno.  Over  the  altar  is  a  copy  of  Annibale  Caracci's  picture 
of  S.  Gregory,  which  once  existed  here,  but  is  now  in  England. 
On  the  right  is  the  picture  of  the  Madonna  '  which  spoke  to  S. 
Gregory,'  and  which  is  said  to  have  become  suddenly  impressed 
upon  the  wall  after  a  vision  in  which  she  appeared  to  him.  On  the 
left  is  a  beautiful  marble  dossale  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

Hence  a  sacristan  will  admit  the  visitor  into  the  Garden  of  S. 
Silvia,  whence  there  is  a  grand  view  over  the  opposite  Palatine. 

'  To  stand  here  or  on  the  summit  of  tlie  flisiht  of  steps  which  leads  to  tlie 
portal,  and  lool\  across  to  the  ruined  Palace  of  the  Caesars,  malces  the  mind 
giddy  with  the  rusli  of  thoughts.  There,  before  us,  the  Palatine  Hill— pagan 
Rome  in  the  dust;  here,  the  little  cell,  a  few  feet  square,  where  slept  in  sack- 
cloth the  man  who  gave  the  last  blow  to  the  power  of  the  Caesars,  and  first 
set  his  foot  as  sovereign  on  the  cradle  and  capital  of  their  greatness.' — Mrg. 
Jameson. 

Here  are  three  chapels,  restored  by  the  historian  Cardinal  Baro- 
nius  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  first,  of  S.  Silvia,  contains  a 
fresco  of  the  Almighty  with  a  choir  of  angels,  by  Guido ;  and  be- 
neath it  a  beautiful  statue  of  the  venerable  saint  (especially  invoked 


1  Milnian's  'Latin  Christianit)/,'  vol.  ii. 


228  Walks  in  Rome 

against  convulsions),  by  Nircolo  Cordicri — one  of  the  best  statues  of 
saints  in  Rome.  The  second  chapel,  of  S.  Andrew,  contains  the  two 
famous  rival  frescoes  of  Guido  and  Doiacnichlno.  Guido  has  repre- 
sented S.  Andrew  kneeling  in  reverent  thankfulness  at  first  sight  of 
the  cross  on  whicli  he  was  to  suffer  ;  Domenichino — a  more  painful 
subject— the  flagellation  of  the  saint.  Of  these  paintings  Annibale 
Caracci  observed  that  '  Guido's  was  the  painting  of  the  master;  but 
Domenichino's  tlie  painting  of  the  scholar  who  knew  more  than  the 
master.'  The  beautiful  group  of  figures  in  the  corner,  where  a 
terrified  child  is  hiding  its  face  in  its  mother's  dress,  is  introduced 
in  several  other  pictures  of  Domenichino. 

'It  is  n  well-known  anecilote  that  a  poor  old  woman  stood  for  a  long  time 
before  the  stoi-y  of  Domenichino,  pointing  it  out  l)it  by  tjit  and  explaining  it  to 
a  child  who  was  with  lier  ;  and  that  she  then  turned  to  the  story  told  by  Guido, 
admired  the  landscape  and  went  away.  It  is  added  that  when  Annibale  Caracci 
heard  of  this,  it  seemed  to  him  'ii  itself  a  sufficient  reason  for  giving  the  prefer- 
ence to  the  former  work.  It  is  also  said  that  when  Domenichino  was  painting 
one  of  the  executioners,  he  worked  himself  up  into  a  fury  with  threatening  words 
and  gestures,  and  that  Annibale,  surprising  him  in  this  condition,  eml>racvd  him, 
saying,  "  Donienico,  to-day  you  have  taught  me  a  lesson,  which  is  that  a  iiiiinler, 
like  an  orator,  must  first  feel  himself  that  which  he  would  represent  to  others."  ' 
— Lanzi,  v.  82. 

'In  historical  pictures  Domenichino  is  often  cold  and  studied,  especially  in  the 
principal  subject,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  subordinate  persons  have  much 
grace  and  a  noble  character  of  beauty.  Thus,  in  the  scourging  of  S.  Andrew,  a 
group  of  women  thrust  back  by  the  executioners  is  of  the  highest  beauty.  Guido's 
fresco  is  of  high  merit :  S.  Andrew,  on  his  way  to  execution,  sees  the  cross  before 
him  in  the  distance,  and  falls  upon  his  knees  in  adoration— the  executioners  and 
spectators  regard  him  with  astonishment.'— ^tt^ier. 

The  third  chapel,  of  S.  Barbara,  contains  a  grand  statue  of  S. 
Gregory,  by  Niccolo  Cordicri^  (where  the  whispering  dove  is  again 
represented),  and  the  table  at  which  he  daily  fed  twelve  poor 
pilgrims  after  washing  their  feet.  The  Roman  Breviary  tells  how 
on  one  occasion  an  angel  appeared  at  the  feast,  as  the  thirteenth 
guest.  This  story,  the  sending  forth  of  S.  Augu.stine,  and  other 
events  of  S.  Gregory's  life,  are  represented  in  rude  frescoes  upon 
the  walls  by  Viviani.  The  table  is  mentioned  in  the  Mirabilia  as 
an  object  of  devotion  in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century. 

The  adjoining  Convent  (modern)  is  of  vast  size,  and  is  now  occu- 
pied by  Camaldolese  monks,  though  in  the  time  of  S.  Gregory  it 
belonged  to  the  Benedictines.  In  its  situation  it  is  beautiful  and 
quiet,  and  must  have  been  so  even  in  the  time  of  S.  Gregory,  who 
often  regretted  the  seclusion  which  he  was  compelled  to  quit. 

'  I'n  jour,  plus  accablci  que  jamais  par  le  i)oids  des  affaires  seculieres,  il  s'etait 
retire  dans  \m  lieu  secret  pour  s'y  livrer  dans  un  long  silence  i\  sa  tristesse,  et  y  fut 
rejoint  jiar  le  diacre  Pierre,  son  eleve,  son  ami  d'enfance  et  le  compagnon  de  ses 
cheres  etudes.  "  Vous  est-il  done  arrive  quelque  chagrin  nouveau,"  lui  dit  le 
jeune  horanie,  "  pour  que  vous  soyez  ainsi  plus  triste  qu'ii  I'ordinaire?"     "  Mon 

•  Rome  possesses  at  least  eight  fine  modern  statues  of  saints :  besides  those  of 
S.  Silvia  and  S.  Gregory,  are  the  .S.  Agnese  of  Algardi,  the  S.  Bibiana  of  Bernini, 
the  .S  Cecilia  of  iladerno,  theS.  Susanna  of  Quesnoy,  the  S.  Martina  of  Menghino, 
aud  the  S.  Bruno  of  Houdon. 


SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo  229 

chagrin,"  lui  r6pondit  le  pontife,  "est  celni  de  tons  nies  jours,  toujours  vieux par 
I'usage,  et  toujours  nouveau  par  sa  croissaiice  quotidienne.  Ma  paiivre  Ame  se 
rappelle  ce  qu'elle  utait  autrefois,  dans  notre  monast6re,  quand  elle  planait  sur 
tout  ce  qui  passe,  sur  tout  ee  qui  change ;  quand  elle  lie  songeait  ((u'au  ciel ; 
quand  elle  fraucliissait  par  la  contemplation  le  cloitre  de  ce  corps  ([ui  I'enserre  ; 
quand  elle  ainiait  d'avance  la  mort  comnie  I'eiitrL'e  de  la  vie.  Et  niaintenant  il 
lui  faut,  li  cause  de  ma  charge  pastorale,  supporter  les  niille  affaires  des  hommes 
du  sifecle  et  se  souiller  dans  cette  poussiere.  Et  quand,  apres  s'etre  ainsi  repandne 
au  dehors,  elle  veut  retrouver  sa  retraite  int^rieure,  elle  n'y  revient  qu'amoindrie. 
Je  niedite  sur  tout  ce  que  je  souffre  et  sur  tout  ce  que  j'ai  perdu.  Me  voici,  battu 
par  I'ocean  et  tout  brise  par  la  tenipete  ;  quand  je  pense  a  ma  vie  d'autrefois,  il 
me  senible  rcgarder  en  arriere  vers  le  rivage.  Et  ce  qu'il  y  a  de  plus  triste,  c'est 
qu'ainsi  ballott^  par  I'orage,  je  puis  a  peine  entrevoir  le  port  que  j'ai  quitt6." ' — 
Muntaleinbert,  '  Moines  d'Occident.' 

Pope  Gregory  XVI.  was  for  some  years  abbot  of  this  convent, 
to  which  he  was  afterwards  a  generous  benefactor — regretting 
always,  like  his  great  predecessor,  the  peace  of  his  monastic  life. 
His  last  words  to  his  cardinals,  who  were  imploring  him,  for  politi- 
cal purposes,  to  conceal  his  danger,  were  singularly  expressive  of 
this  :  '  Per  Dio,  lasciatemi  ! — voglio  morire  da  frate,  non  da  sovrano.' 
The  last  great  ceremony  enacted  at  S.  Gregorio  was  when  Cardinal 
Wiseman  consecrated  the  mitred  abbot  of  English  Cistercians — Dr. 
Manning  preaching  at  the  same  time  on  the  prospects  of  English 
Catholicism.  As  Cardinal  Manning  he  offered  a  sum  of  £1000  for 
excavating  the  house  of  S.  Gregory,  which  is  known  to  exist  under 
the  church  (as  at  S.  Clemente,  S.  Martino,  &c.),  but  permission  to 
excavate  was  refused  by  the  jealousy  of  the  Government,  because  he 
was  a  foreigner,  in  spite  of  his  being  titular  of  S.  Gregorio.  The 
crypto-porticus  of  the  house  of  S.  Gregory  exists  beyond  the  coal- 
cellar  of  the  convent. 

Ascending  the  steep  paved  lane  between  S.  Gregorio  and  the 
Parco,  the  picturesque  church  on  the  left  with  the  arcaded  apse 
and  tall  campanile  (c.  A.D.  1206),  inlaid  with  coloured  tiles  and 
marbles,  is  that  of  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  two  officers  in  the  house- 
hold of  the  christian  princess  Constantia,  daughter  of  the  Emperor 
Constantine,  in  whose  time  they  occupied  a  position  of  great  in- 
fluence and  trust.  When  Julian  the  Apostate  came  to  the  throne, 
he  attempted  to  persuade  them  to  sacrifice  to  idols,  but  they  refused, 
saying,  '  Our  lives  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  emperor,  but  our  souls 
and  our  faith  belong  to  our  God  ! '  Then  Julian,  fearing  to  bring 
them  to  public  martyrdom,  lest  their  popularity  should  cause  a 
rebellion,  and  the  example  of  their  well-known  fortitude  be  an 
encouragement  to  others,  sent  soldiers  to  behead  them  privately  in 
their  own  house.  Hence  the  inscription  on  the  spot, '  Locus  martyrii 
SS.  Joannis  et  Pauli  in  aedibus  propriis.'  The  campanile  rests  upon 
part  of  a  travertine  arcade,  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  the 
Domus  Vectiliana,  bought  by  Commodns  as  a  residence  because  he 
could  not  .sleep  on  the  Palatine,  and  which  was  the  scene  of  his 
murder.  It  was  connected  by  a  crypto-porticus  with  the  Coliseum. 
The  church  known  as  Titulus  Pammachii  was  built  by  Pammachus, 
the  friend  of  S.  Jerome,  on  the  site  of  the  house  of  the  saints. 
It  is  entered   by  a  portico   adorned  with   eight   ancient   granite 


230  Walks  in  Rome 

columns,  interesting  as  having  been  erected  by  the  English  Pope 
Nicholas  Breakspear,  A.u.  1158.  The  interior,  in  the  basilica 
form,  has  sixteen  ancient  columns  and  a  beautiful  opus-alcxandrinum 
pavement.  In  the  centre  of  the  floor  is  a  stone,  railed  off,  upon 
which  it  is  said  that  the  saints  were  beheaded.  Their  bodies  are 
contained  in  a  porphyry  urn  under  the  high  altar.  In  early  times 
these  were  the  only  bodies  of  saints  preserved  within  the  walls 
of  Kome  (the  rest  being  in  the  catacombs).  In  the  Sacramentary 
of  S.  Leo,  in  the  Preface  of  88.  John  and  Paul,  it  is  said,  '  Of  Thy 
merciful  providence  Thou  hast  vouchsafed  to  crown  not  only  the 
circuit  of  the  city  with  the  glorious  passion  of  the  martyrs,  but 
also  to  hide  in  the  very  heart  of  the  city  itself  the  victorious  limbs 
of  8.  John  and  8.  Paul.'  ^ 

The  '  very  large  and  beautiful '  church  of  Pammachus  was  cruelly 
modernised  by  Cardinal  Camillo  Paolucci  and  his  architect  Antonio 
Canevari,  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the  tomb  of 
Luke,  Cardinal  of  88.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  the  friend  of  8.  Bernard, 
which  stood  in  the  portico,  was  broken  up,  and  his  cofBn  used  as  a 
water-trough. 

Above  the  tribune  are  frescoes  by  Pomcrancio.  Beneath  the  altar 
on  the  left  of  the  tribune  is  preserved  the  embalmed  body  of  8. 
Paul  of  the  Cross  (who  died  1776,  and  whose  festival  is  April  28), 
founder  of  the  Order  of  Passionists,  who  inhabit  the  adjoining 
convent.  The  aged  face  bears  a  beautiful  expression  of  repose  ; 
the  body  is  dressed  in  the  robe  which  clothed  it  when  living.^  In 
honour  of  this  saint  a  splendid  chapel  has  been  erected  on  the  right 
of  the  nave  (1868-70),  cased  with  precious  alabaster  and  jaspers  ; 
its  two  great  alabaster  pillars  were  the  gift  of  Pius  IX.  Beneath 
the  high  altar  of  the  church,  the  excavations  of  Father  Germanus 
brought  to  light  in  1887  several  chambers  evidently  belonging  to  the 
house  of  a  Roman  of  the  fourth  century.  The  walls  have  remains 
of  frescoes  of  peacocks,  wild  beasts,  sea-horses,  &c.  8everal  pictures 
are  of  undoubted  christian  character  :  Moses  before  the  Burning 
Bush  (also  seen  in  the  catacomb  of  8.  Calixtus) ;  a  woman,  with  a 
veil  and  a  pearl  necklace,  praying,  with  her  arms  outstretched  ; 
and  scenes  from  the  Passion  of  Christ.  These  are  the  earliest 
instances  of  christian  frescoes  found  outside  the  catacombs.  The 
house  contains  fifteen  rooms,  and  there  are  others  still  unexcavated. 
The  amphorae  remain  in  the  cellars. 

'The  murder  of  the  saints  seiins  to  have  taken  place  in  a  narrow  passage 
(/aKccs)  not  far  from  the  tahlimiiii  nv  leccption  room.  Here  we  see  the  fenen- 
tella  confessionis,  by  means  of  uiiiili  ]iil.<;i  iuis  were  allowed  to  behold  and  touch 
the  venerable  grave.  Two  things  strike  the  modern  visitor:  the  variety  of  the 
fresco  decorations  of  the  house,  which  ))egin  with  pagan  genii  holding  festoons, 

1  See  '  Rotna  Sotterranea,'  p.  106. 

2  '  Domine  .Tesu  Christe,  qui  ad  mysterium  orucis  praedicandum  Sanctum 
Paulum  singulari  caritate  donasti,  et  per  eum  iiovani  in  ecclesia  familiam 
florescere  voluisti ;  ipsius  nobis  intercessione  concede,  ut  passionem  tuam  jtigiter 
recolentes  in  terris.  ejnsdem  fructum  consequi  mereamur  in  coelis.' — Collect  of 
S.  Paul  of  the  Cross,  'Roman  Vespcr-Bouk.' 


Arch  of  Dolatella  231 

a  tolerably  good  work  of  the  third  century,  and  end  with  stiff,  uncanny  repre- 
sentations of  the  Passion,  of  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  ;  second,  the  fact 
that  sucli  an  important  monument  should  have  been  buried  and  forgotten.' — 

Lanciaiii. 

The  famous  church  of  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo  at  Venice  was  founded 
by  emigrants  from  this  convent.  The  memory  of  these  saints  was 
so  much  honoured  up  to  the  time  of  Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  that 
the  eve  of  their  festival  was  an  obligatory  fast.  Their  festa  (June 
2(5)  is  still  kept  with  great  solemnities  on  the  Coelian,  when  the  rail- 
ing round  their  place  of  execution  is  wreathed  and  laden  with  flowers. 
When  the  'station  '  is  held  at  their  church,  the  apse  is  illuminated. 

Male  visitors  are  admitted  through  the  convent  to  its  large  and 
beautiful  Garden,  which  overhangs  the  steep  side  of  the  Coelian 
towards  the  Coliseum,  of  which  there  is  a  fine  view  between  its 
ancient  cypresses.  Here  on  a  site  near  the  monastery  are  some 
remains  believed  to  be  those  of  the  temple  built  by  Agrippina 
(c.  A.D.  57),  daughter  of  Germanicus,  to  the  honour  of  her  deified 
husband  (and  uncle)  Claudius,  after  she  had  sent  him  to  Olympus 
by  feeding  him  with  poisonous  mushrooms.  Nero,  who  wished  to 
efface  the  memory  of  his  predecessor,  pulled  down  this  temple,  on 
the  pretext  that  it  interfered  with  his  Golden  House,  but  it  was 
rebuilt  under  Vespasian.  In  this  garden  also  is  the  entrance  to  the 
vast  substructions  known  as  the  Vivarium,  whence  the  wild  beasts 
who  devoured  the  early  christian  martyrs  were  frightened  by 
burning  tow  down  a  subterranean  passage  into  the  arena.  The 
ruins  in  the  part  of  the  garden  nearest  to  the  Coliseum  have  been 
supposed  to  belong  to  the  Domus  Vectiliana  of  Commodus,  which 
he'i.frequented  as  a  retreat  for  his  insomnia,  and  where  the  concu- 
bine Marcia,  finding  her  name  on  a  tablet-list  of  those  to  be  exe- 
cuted, determined  on  his  murder. 

Continuing  to  follow  the  lane  up  the  Coelian,  we  reach  the  richly 
tinted  brick  Arch  of  Dolabella,  erected  A.  d.  10,  by  the  consuls  P. 
Cornelius  Dolabella  and  Caius  Julius  Silanus.  Nero,  building  his 
aqueduct  to  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars,  made  use  of  this,  which 
already  existed,  and  included  it  in  his  line  of  arches. 

Above  the  arch  is  a  Hermitage,  revered  as  that  where  S.  Giovanni 
de  Matha  lived,  and  where  he  died  in  1213.  Before  he  came  to 
reside  here  he  had  been  miraculously  brought  from  Tunis  (whither 
he  had  gone  on  a  mission)  to  Ostia,  in  a  boat  without  helm  or  sail, 
in  which  he  knelt  without  ceasing  before  the  crucifix  throughout 
the  whole  of  his  voyage  ! 

Passing  beneath  the  gateway,  we  emerge  upon  the  picturesque 
irregular  Piazza  of  the  Navicella,  the  central  point  of  the  Coelian, 
which  is  surrounded  by  a  most  interesting  group  of  buildings,  and 
which  contains  an  isolated  fragment  of  the  aqueduct  of  Nero,  dear 
to  artists  from  its  colour.  Behind  this,  under  the  trees,  is  the 
marble  Navicella,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  originally  a  votive 
offering  of  a  sailor  to  Jupiter  Redux,  whose  temple  stood  near  this  ; 
but  which  was  adapted  by  Leo  X.  as  a  christian  emblem  of  the 
Church — the  boat  of  S.  Peter. 


232  Walks  in  Rome 

'Tlu- nlloRDiy  of  a  ship  is  peculiarly  dwult  upon  by  the  ancient  Fathers.  A 
ship  entcriiif;  the  port  was  a  favourite  lieathen  enililem  of  the  close  of  life.  But 
the  christian  idea,  and  its  elevation  from  individual  to  universal  or  catholic 
humanity,  isilerived  directly  from  the  Hihle— see,  for  instance,  1  Peter  iii.  20,  21. 
"  Without  douht,"  says  S.  Augustine,  "the  ark  is  tlie  figure  of  the  city  of  God 
pilgrlmising  in  this  world,  in  other  words,  of  the  Church,  which  is  saved  by  the 
wood  on  which  hung  the  Mediator  between  tiod  and  man,  the  man  Christ  Jesus." 
The  same  interpretation  was  recognised  in  the  Latin  Churcli  in  the  days  of 
Tertullian  and  S.  Cyprian,  itc.  The  l)ark  of  S.  Peter  is  similarly  represented  on 
a  Greek  gem,  found  in  the  Catacomlis,  as  sailing  on  a  fish,  probably  Leviathan  or 
Satan,  while  doves,  cinlileiiiatical  of  the  faithful,  perch  on  the  mast  and  stern- 
two  Apostles  row,  a  third  lifts  up  his  bands  in  prayer,  and  our  Saviour,  approach- 
ing the  vessel,  supports  Peter  by  the  liand  when  about  to  sink.  .  .  .  Hut  the 
allegory  of  the  ship  is  carried  out  to  its  fullest  extent  in  the  fifty-seventh  chapter 
of  the  second  book  of  the  "  Apostolical  Constitutions,"  supposed  to  have  been 
compiled,  in  the  name  of  the  Apostles,  in  the  fomth  century.'— Xorrf  Lindsay's 
'  Christian  Art,'  i.  18. 

On  the  right  is  (first)  the  gateway  of  the  deserted  convent  of 
Redemptorists,  called  S.  Tommaso  in  Formis,  which  was  founded 
by  S.  Giovanni  de  Matha,  who,  when  celebrating  his  first  mass  at 
Paris,  beheld  in  a  vision  an  angel  robed  in  white,  with  a  red  and 
blue  cross  upon  his  breast,  and  his  hands  resting  in  benediction 
upon  the  heads  of  two  captives — a  white  and  a  black  man.  The 
Bishop  of  Paris  sent  him  to  Rome  to  seek  explanation  from 
Innocent  III.,  who  was  celebrated  as  an  interpreter  of  dreams — his 
foundation  of  the  Franciscan  order  having  resulted  from  one  which 
befell  him.  S.  Giovanni  was  accompanied  to  the  Pope  by  another 
hermit,  Felix  de  Valois.  They  found  that  Innocent  had  himself 
seen  the  same  vision  of  the  angel  between  the  two  captives  while 
celebrating  mass  at  the  Lateran,  and  he  interpreted  it  as  inculcat- 
ing the  duty  of  charity  towards  christian  slaves,  for  which  purpose 
he  founded  the  Trinitarian.*,  since  called  Redemptorists.  The  story 
of  the  double  vision  is  commemorated  in  a  Mosaic  erected  above 
the  door,  A.D.  1260,  and  bearing  the  name  of  the  artist,  Jacobus 
Cosmati. 

The  next  gate  beyond  the  church  is  that  of  the  Villa  Mattel, 
formerly  belonging  to  the  ducal  family  of  Mattel  di  Giove,  now  to 
Baron  Richard  von  Hoffman.  (Visitors  are  admitted  on  Thursdays, 
after  2  p.m. — sometimes  at  the  entrance  opposite  SS.  Giovanni  e 
Paolo — upon  writing  down  their  names  at  the  gate.)  These  grounds 
are  well  worth  visiting — quite  the  ideal  of  a  Roman  garden,  a 
wealth  of  large  Roman  daisies,  roses,  and  periwinkle  spreading 
amid  remains  of  ancient  statues  and  columns.  A  grand  little 
avenue  of  ilexes,  lined  with  ancient  statues,  leads  to  a  terrace 
whence  there  is  a  most  beautiful  view  towards  the  aqueducts  and 
the  Alban  hills,  with  a  noble  sarcophagus  and  a  quantity  of  fine 
aloes  and  prickly  pears  in  the  foreground.  There  is  an  obelisk,  of 
which  only  the  top  is  Egyptian.  It  is  said  that  there  is  a  man's 
hand  underneath  ;  when  the  obelisk  was  lowered  it  fell  suddenly, 
and  one  of  the  workmen  had  not  time  to  take  his  hand  away.  In 
the  lowest  portion  of  the  grounds,  now  enclosed  in  some  picturesque 
ancient  f;irm-l)nildings.  is  the  crystal  spring  which  has  been  identi- 
fied as  the  true  Fountain  of  Egeria,  where  the  nvmph  held  hef 


S.  Maria  in  Domenica  233 

mysterious  interviews  with  Numa  Pompilius.  Near  the  gate  of  the 
villa  was  the  Static  of  the  fifth  battalion  of  the  Roman  vigiles,  or 
fire  brigade.  Two  marble  pedestals  have  been  found  :  one  bearing 
the  roll  of  the  company  ;  the  other  bearing  a  dedication  to  Cara- 
calla  from  the  officers  and  men  of  tlie  fifth  battalion,  with  their 
names.  They  are  now  at  the  entrance  of  the  little  ilex  avenue  in 
the  villa. 

Almost  standing  in  the  garden  of  the  villa,  and  occupying  the 
site  of  the  house  of  S.  Ciriaca,  is  the  Church  of  S.  Maria  in  Domenica 
or  della  Navicella.  (If  no  one  is  there,  the  hermit  at  S.  Stefano 
Rotondo  will  unlock  it.)  The  unremarkable  portico  was  designed 
by  Raffaelle.^  The  damp  interior  (rebuilt  by  Leo  X.  from  designs 
of  Raffaelle)  is  solemn  and  striking.  It  is  in  the  basilica  form,  the 
nave  separated  from  the  aisles  by  eighteen  columns  of  granite  and 
one  (smaller,  near  the  tribune)  of  porphyry.  The  frieze,  in  chiar- 
oscuro, was  painted  by  Gkdio  Romano  and  Pierino  del  Vaga.  Beneath 
the  confessional  are  the  bones  of  S.  Balbina,  whose  fortress-like 
church  stands  on  the  Pseudo-Aventine.  In  the  tribune  are  curious 
mosaics,  in  which  the  figure  of  Pope  Paschal  I.  is  introduced,  the 
square  nimbus  round  his  head  being  an  evidence  of  its  portrait 
character,  i.e.  that  it  was  done  during  his  lifetime.- 

'  Within  the  tribune  are  mosaics  of  tlie  Virgin  and  Child  seated  on  a  throne, 
with  angels  ranged  in  regular  rows  on  each  side  ;  and,  at  her  feet,  with  unspeak- 
able stiffness  of  limb,  the  kneeling  figure  of  Pope  Paschal  I.  Upon  the  walls  of 
the  tribune  is  the  Saviour  with  a  nimbus,  surrounded  with  two  angels  and  the 
twelve  apostles,  and  farther  below,  on  a  much  larger  scale,  two  prophets,  who 
appear  to  point  towards  Him.  The  most  remarkable  thing  here  is  the  rich 
foliage  decoration.  Besides  the  wreath  of  flowers  (otherwise  not  a  rare  feature) 
which  are  growing  out  of  two  vessels  on  the  edge  of  the  dome,  the  floor  beneath 
the  figures  is  also  decorated  with  flowers — a  graceful  species  of  ornament  seldom 
aimed  at  in  the  moroseness  of  Byzantine  art.  From  this  point,  the  decline  into 
utter  barbarism  is  rapid.' — Kugler. 

'  The  Olivetan  monks  inhabited  the  church  and  cloisters  of  S.  Maria  in 
Domenica,  commonly  called  in  Navicella,  from  the  rudely  sculptured  marble 
monument  that  stands  on  the  grass  before  its  portal,  a  remnant  of  bygone  days, 
to  which  neither  history  nor  tradition  has  given  a  name,  but  which  has  itself 
given  one  to  the  picturesque  old  church  which  stands  on  the  brow  of  the  Coelian 
Hill.' — Lady  Georgiana  Fidlerton. 

A  tradition  of  the  Church  narrates  that  S.  Lorenzo,  deacon  and 
martyr,  daily  distributed  alms  to  the  poor  in  front  of  this  church 
— then  the  house  of  S.  Ciriaca — with  whom  he  had  taken  refuge. 

Opposite,  is  the  round  Church  of  S.  Stefano  Rotondo,  dedicated 
by  S.  Simplicius  in  467.  It  appears  to  have  been  built  on  the  site 
of  an  ancient  circular  building,  and  to  have  belonged  to  the  great 
victual-market  —  Macellum  Magnum  —  erected  by  Nero  in  this 
quarter.'*     It  is  seldom   used  for  service,  except  on  S.   Stephen's 

1  His  sketch  is  in  the  collection  at  Windsor  Castle. 

2  A  square  nimbus  indicates  that  a  portrait  was  e.xecuted  before,  a  roiuid  after, 
the  death  of  the  person  represented. 

3  See  Eniile  Braun.  The  building  of  the  Macellum  is  described  by  Dion 
Cassius,  i.  18 ;  Notitia,  Reg.  ii. 


234  Walks  in  Rome 

Day  (December  20) ;  but  visitors  are  admitted  through  a  little 
cloister,  in  which  stands  a  well  of  beautiful  proportions,  of  temp. 
Leo  X. — attributed  to  Michelangelo.  The  interior  is  exceedingly- 
curious  architecturally.  It  is  one  hundred  and  thirty -three  feet  in 
diameter,  with  a  double  circle  of  granite  columns,  thirty-six  in  the 
outer  and  twenty  in  the  inner  series,  enclosing  two  tall  corinthian 
columns,  with  two  pilasters  supporting  a  cross  wall.  In  the  centre 
is  a  kind  of  temple  in  which  are  relics  of  S.  Stephen  (his  body  is 
said  to  be  at  S.  Lorenzo).  In  the  entrance  of  the  church  is  an 
ancient  marble  seat  from  which  S.  Gregory  is  said  to  have  read  his 
fourth  homily. 

The  walls  are  lined  with  frescoes  by  Pomerancio  and  Tcmpesta. 
They  begin  with  the  Crucifixion,  but  as  the  Holy  Innocents  really 
suffered  before  our  Saviour,  one  of  them  is  represented  lying  on 
each  side  of  the  Cross.  Next  comes  the  stoning  of  S.  Stephen,  and 
the  frescoes  continue  to  porl.'ay  every  phase  of  human  agony  in  the 
most  revolting  detail,  but  are  interesting  as  showing  an  historical 
series  of  what  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  considers  as  the  best 
authenticated  martyrdoms,  viz. : — 

Peter,  crucified. 

Taul,  beheaded. 

Under  Nero    ...  -I  S.  Vitalo,  buried  alive 


It 

rss.  Pi 

\  S.  Fai 
I         t< 


I  S.  Thecla,  t<^)ssed  bv  a  bull. 


^S.  Gervase,  beaten  to  death. 

/.SS.  Protasius,  Processus,  and  Martinianus,  beheaded. 
S.  Fau.stus  and  others,  clothed  in  skins  of  beasts  and  torn 
to  pieces  by  dogs. 
fS.  John,  lioiled  in  oil  (which  he  survived)  at  the  Porta 
I         Latina. 
iTr,.io^  r>«„,;f;„.,         /  ^-  Cletus,  Pope,  beheaded. 
1  nder  Domitian      .  /  ^  penis,' beheaded  (and  carrying  his  head). 
I  S.  Domitilla,  roasted  alive. 
\  SS.  Nereus  and  Achilles,  beheaded. 

fS.  Ignatius,   Bishop  of  Antioch,   eaten  by  lions  in   the 
I         Coliseum. 
Under  Trajan     .     .  -  S.  Clement,  Pope,  tied  to  an  anchor  and  thrown  into  the 
sea. 
VS.  Simon,  Bishop  of  .Jerusalem,  crucified. 
'S.  Eustachio,  his  wife  'J'heophista,  and  his  children  Agapita 
and  Theophista,  burnt  in  a  brazen  bull  before  the 
Coliseum. 
T'nder  Hadrian  .    .  •{  S.  Alexander,  Pope,  l)eheaded. 

S.  Sinforosa,  drowned,  and  her  seven  sons  martyred  in 

various  ways. 
^S.  Pius,  Pope,  beheaded. 
T,„i„,.      A.,f„„:„„o   C^-  Felicitas  and  her  seven  sons,  martyred  in  various  ways. 
v\Z  on^i  Afar     «  J  §.  -Tustus,  beheaded. 

^\,L^i^^  iuarcus  ■{  g  jj.^rjjaret,  stretched  on  a  rack,  and  torn  to  pieces  with 
Aureiius.    •     ■    •   I         iron  forks. 


i; 


TT„.i„..      A«*^„i„„„  rS.  Blandina,  tossed  by  abull,  in  a  net. 
Under     Antonmus  l„    a..„i „„„*„.i  ...:..  ..„,i  i,.,^  „i.„;.. 


rs. 

inH  Voriic  ■{  S-  Attains,  roasted  on  a  red-hot  chair. 

ana  verus  .     .     .   |^g   Pothinus  and  others,  burnt  alive. 


Under       Sentiniius  (^^'  P^'T®''"'^  '^"'^  Felicitas,  torn  to  pieces  by  lions  in  the 
o » ,.1  r.„_.  Coliseum. 


=''■*-  i  SS.  \ 
■     -Is.  Al 


Severusand  Cara-  -;  gg  yj^^Qr  and  Zephyrinus,  Leonida  and  Basil,  beheaded. 
'  °  Alexandrina,  covered  with  boiling  pitch. 


S.  Stefano  Rotondo 


235 


Under      Alexander 
Severus  .    .    .    . 


Under      Alexander 
Severus  .     .    .     . 


Under     Valerianus 
and  Gallienus .    . 


Under  Claudius  II. 


Under  Aurelian  and 
Numerianus    .    . 


Under      Diocletian 
and  Maximianus 


rs.  Calixtus,  Pope,  thrown  into  a  well  with  a  stone  round 

I         his  neck. 

"j  S.  Calepodius,  dragged  through  Rome  by  wild  horses,  and 

V  thrown  into  the  Til)cr. 

j'S.  Martina,  torn  with  iron  forks. 

S.  Cecilia,  who,  failing  to  be  suffocated  with  hot  water, 
-!         was  stalibed  in  the  throat. 
S.  Urban  the  Pope,  Tibertius,  Valerianus,  and  Maxinuis, 

V  beheaded. 

S.  Pontianus,  Pope,  beheaded  in  Sardinia. 
S.  Agatha,  her  breasts  cut  off. 

SS.  Fabian  and  Cornelius,  Popes,  and  S.  Cyprian  of  Car- 
thage, beheaded. 
S.  Tryphon,  burnt. 

SS.  Abdon  and  Sennen,  torn  by  lions. 
S.  Apollonia,  burnt,  after  all  her  teeth  were  pulled  out. 
S.  Stephen,  Pope,  burnt  in  his  episcopal  chair. 
S.  Cointha,  torn  to  pieces. 
S.  Sixtus,  Pope,  killed  with  the  sword. 
S.  Venantius,  thrown  from  a  wall. 
S.  Laurence  the  deacon,  roasted  on  a  gridiron. 
S.  Hippolytus,  torn  by  wild  horses. 
SS.  Rufina  and  Semula,  drowned  in  the  Tiber. 
^SS.  Protus  and  Hiacinthus,  beheaded. 

Three  hundred  Christians,  burnt  in  a  furnace. 

S.  Tertullian,  burnt  with  hot  irons. 

S.  Nemesius,  beheaded. 

SS.  Sempronius,  Olympius,  and  Theodulus,  burnt. 

S.  Marius,  hung,  with  a  huge  weight  tied  to  his  feet. 

S.  Martha  and  her  children,  martyred  in  different  ways. 

SS.  Cyprian  and  Justinian,  boiled. 
^S.  Valentine,  killed  with  the  sword. 

fS.  Agapitus  (aged  15),  hung  head  downwards  over  a  pan  of 
burning  charcoal.  Inscribed  aliove  are  these  words 
from  Wisdom  :  'Properavit  ut  cduceret  ilium  a  seduc- 
tionibus  et  iniquitatibus  gentis  suae.' 

S.  Cristina,  transfixed  through  the  heart. 

S.  Columba,  burnt. 

SS.  Crysanthus  and  Daria,  buried  alive. 

/S.  Agnes,  bound  to  a  stake,  afterwards  l)eheaded. 
S.  Caius,  Poi)e,  beheaded. 
S.  Emerantia,  stoned  to  death. 
Nearly  the  whole  population  of  Nicomedia  martyred  in 

different  ways. 
S.  Erasmus,  laid  in  a  coffin  into  which  boiling  lead  was 

poured. 
S.  Blaise,  bound  to  a  column  and  torn  to  pieces. 
S.  Barbara,  bui'nt  with  hot  irons. 

S.  Eustathius  and  his  companions,  martyred  in  different 
ways. 
(  S.  Vincent,  burnt  on  a  gridiron. 
■  \  SS.  Primus  and  Felicianus,  torn  by  lions. 
S.  Anastasia,  thrown  from  a  rock? 
SS.  Quattro  Incoronati,  martyred  in  various  ways. 
SS.  Peter  and  Marcellinus,  beheaded. 
S.  Boniface,  placed  in  a  dunueon  full  of  boiling  pitch. 
S.  Lucia,  shut  up  in  a  well  full  of  serpents. 
S.  Euphemia,  run  thidugh  with  a  sword. 
SS.  Vitus,  Modestus,  and  Crescentius,  boiled  alive. 
S.  Sebastian,  shot  with  arrows  (which  he  survived). 
\SS.  Cosmo  and  Damian,  Pantaleon,  Satuininus,  Susanna, 
Gornius,  Adrian,  and  others,  in  different  ways. 


236  Walks  in  Rome 

/"S.  Cntlierine  of  Alexandria,  ami   others,  broken   on   the 
I         wheel, 
imier  Maxentius   .  a  SS.   KiUistina   and    Porflrius,   l)nrnt  with  a  company  of 
soldiers. 
U   Maree 


L'ellus,  Pope,  died  worn  out  by  persecution. 

'S.  Simon  and  160<)  citizens,  cut  into  fragments. 
.....  -.  .s.  Peter,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  forty  i 

ana  Liciriius    .    .   |^        jjg^  „p  j^  their  waists  in  a  frozen  lake. 


...  ««      •     ■  f^-  Simon  ana  lomi  cn/izeii»,  cui.  into  iia^iiiciii.B. 

o?,'7iii. ?/!.""'""*  i  ■'^-  I't'ter,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  forty  soldier.s,  left  to 


["SS.  .Tohn  and  Paul,  beheaded. 
I  S.  Artemius,  crushed  between  two  sti 
J  S.  Pisrmenius,  drowned  in  tlie  Tiber. 
■     •     •      .S.  P,il)ii 
L        th( 


I'nder    .Fulian    the  „.^...,.,  „..,.. ..^ v.— >,. 

Apostate     .     .     •    I  .t;  jjifliana,  flogged  to  death,  and  tlirown  for  food  to  dogs  in 
the  Forum. 

The  last  picture  represents  the  reunion  of  eminent  martyrs  (in 
which  the  Roman  Church  includes  English  sufferers  under  Elizabeth), 
and  above  is  inscribed  this  verse  from  Isaiah  xxv. :  '  Laudabit 
populus  fortis,  civitas  gentium  robustarum.' 

'Au-dessus  du  tableau  de  la  Crucifixion  se  trouve  cette  inscription:  "Rol 
glorieux  des  martyrs,  s'il  donne  sa  vie  pour  racheter  le  pech6,  il  verra  une  pos- 
terity sans  fins."  Et  quelle  post6nte  !  Homnies,  fenimes,  vieillards,  jeunes 
hommes,  jeunes  filles,  enfants  !  Comme  tons  accourent,  comnie  tous  savant 
mourir. ' — '  Une  Chretienne  ii  Jiome.' 

'Les  paiens  avaicnt  divinise  la  vie,  les  Chretiens  diviniserent  la  niort.'—jl/adrtJftc 
de  Staet. 

'S.  Stefano  Rotondo  exhibits,  in  a  series  of  pictures  all  roiuid  the  church,  the 
martyrdoms  of  tlie  Christians  in  the  so-called  persecutions,  with  a  general  picture 
of  the  most  eminent  martyrs  since  the  triumph  of  Christianity.  No  doubt  many 
of  the  particular  stories  thus  painted  will  bear  no  critical  examination  ;  it  is 
likely  enough,  too,  that  Gibbon  has  truly  accused  the  general  statements  of 
exaggeration.  But  this  is  a  thankless  labour,  such  as  Lingard  and  others  have 
undertaken  with  regard  to  the  S.  Bartholomew  massacre,  and  the  Irish  massacre 
of  1642.  Divide  the  sum-total  of  reported  martyrs  by  twenty — by  fifty,  if  you 
will — but  after  all  you  have  a  number  of  persons  of  all  ages  and  sexes  suffering 
cruel  torments  and  death  for  conscience'  sake  and  for  Christ's,  and  by  their  suffer- 
ings manifestly,  with  (iod's  blessing,  ensuring  the  triumph  of  Christ's  gospel. 
Neitlier  do  I  think  that  we  consider  the  excellence  of  this  martyr-spirit  half 
enough.  I  do  not  think  pleasure  is  a  sin  :  the  Stoics  of  old,  and  the  ascetic 
Christians  since,  who  have  said  so  (see  the  answers  of  that  excellent  man.  Pope 
IJregory  the  Great,  to  Augustine's  (juestions,  as  given  at  length  by  Bede),  have, 
in  saying  .so,  outstepped  the  simplicity  and  wisdom  of  christian  truth.  But, 
though  pleasure  is  not  a  sin,  yet  surely  the  contemplation  of  suffering  for  Christ's 
sake  is  a  thing  most  needful  to  us  in  our  days,  from  whom,  in  our  daily  life, 
suffering  seems  so  far  removed.  And,  as  God's  giace  enabled  rich  and  delicate 
person.',  women,  and  even  children,  to  endure  all  extremities  of  pain  and  re- 
proach in  times  past,  so  there  is  the  same  grace  no  less  mighty  now,  and  if  we 
do  not  close  ourselves  against  it,  it  might  in  us  be  no  less  glorified  in  a  time  of 
trial.  And  that  such  times  of  trial  will  come,  my  children,  in  your  times,  if  not 
in  mine,  1  do  believe  fully,  Vjoth  from  the  teaching  of  man's  wisdom  and  of 
God's.  And  therefore  pictures  of  martyrdom  are,  I  think,  very  wholesome — 
not  to  be  sneered  at,  nor  yet  to  Ije  looked  on  as  a  mere  excitement,  but  as  a 
sober  reminder  to  us  of  what  .Satan  can  do  to  hurt,  and  what  God's  grace  can 
enable  the, weakest  of  His  people  to  bear.  Neither  should  we  forget  those  who 
by  their  sufferings  were  more  than  con((uerors,  not  for  themselves  only,  but  for 
us,  in  set'uring  to  us  the  safe  and  triumphant  existence  of  Christ's  ble.ssed  faith 
—in  securing  to  us  the  possibility,  nay,  the  actual  enjoyment,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  Antichrist  of  the  priesthood,  of  Christ's  holy  and  glorious  eKxAjjaia,  the 
congregation  and  comnionwejilth  o(  Christ's  Tpeo^le.'— Arnold's  Letters. 


Villas  on  the  Coelian  237 

'  On  croit  que  I'eglise  de  Saint-Etienue-le-Rond  est  batie  sur  reniplacenient  du 
Macellum  Augusti.  S'il  en  est  ainsi,  les  supplices  des  martyrs,  hideusement 
representt^s  sur  les  murs  de  cette  eglise,  rappellent  ce  quelle  a  reniplac^.' — 
Ampere,  Emp.  i.  270. 

'  Je  crains  fort  que  des  peintures  pareilles  k  colles  de  Santo  Stefano,  au  lieu 
d'agir  sur  beaiu-oup  de  spectateurs  par  voie  d'^dification  chretienne,  n'agisseut 
par  voie  de  depravation.  Ne  niontrez  jamais  le  rouge  au  taureau,  le  sang  au 
tigre,  la  cruaute  ii  I'animal  huniain.' — Smile  Montigut. 

The  first  chapel  on  the  left,  dedicated  to  SS.  Primus  and  Felici- 
anus,  contains  some  delicate  small  mosaics. 

'  The  mosaics  of  the  small  altar  of  8.  Stefano  Rotondo  are  of  a.d.  642-649.  A 
brilliantly  decorated  cross  is  represented  between  two  standing  figures  of  S. 
Primus  and  S.  Felicianus.  On  the  upper  end  of  the  cross  (very  tastefully  intro- 
duced) appears  a  small  head  of  Christ  with  a  nimbus,  over  which  the  hand  of  the 
Father  is  extended  in  benediction.' — Kiigler. 

In  the  next  chapel  is  a  very  beautiful  tomb  of  Bernardino  Capella, 
Canon  of  S.  Peter's,  who  died  1524. 

In  a  small  house  which  formerly  stood  among  the  gardens  in  this 
neighbourhood,  Palestrina  lived  and  wrote. 

'  Sous  le  regne  de  Paul  IV.,  Palestrina  faisait  partie  de  la  chapelle  papale  ;  niais 
il  fut  oblige  de  la  quitter,  parce  qu'il  etait  marie.  II  se  retira  alors  dans  une 
chauraifere  perdue  au  milieu  des  vignes  du  Mont  C'oelius,  et  la,  seul,  inconnu  au 
monde,  il  se  livra,  durant  de  longs  jours,  a  cette  extase  de  la  penseequi  agrandit, 
au-dela  de  toute  raesure,  la  puissance  creatrice  de  Ihonime.  Le  desir  des  Peres 
du  concile  lui  ayant  ete  nianifeste,  il  prit  aussitOt  une  plume,  ecrivit  en  tete  de 
son  cahier,  "  Mon  Dieu,  eolairez-moi !  "  et  se  niit  a  I'oeuvre  avec  un  saint  enthou- 
siasme.  Ses  premiers  efforts  ne  repondirent  pas  il  I'ideal  que  son  genie  s'etait 
fornix ;  mais  peu  a  pen  ses  pensees  s'eclaircirent,  et  les  flots  de  poesie  qui 
inondaient  son  anie  se  repandirent  en  melodies  tonchantes.  Chaque  parole  du 
texte  retentissait  clairement,  allait  chercher  toutes  les  consciences,  et  les  exal- 
tait  dans  une  emotion  commune.  La  messe  du  pape  Marcel  trancha  la  question  ; 
et  Pie  IV.  s'ecria,  aprfes  I'avoir  entendue,  qu'il  avait  eru  assister  aux  concerts  des 
anges.' — Gournerie,  'Home  Chretienne,'  il.  195. 

Palestrina's  house  must  have  been  on  grounds  adjoining  the 
Villa  Casali,  where  a  military  hospital  marks  the  site  of  the  villa 
of  Annius  Verus,  grandfather  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  in  which  the 
emperor  was  born,  a.d.  121,  and  where  he  was  educated.  Annius 
Verus  was  father  of  M.  Aurelius  Antoninus,  and  his  sister,  Anna 
Galeria  Faustina,  was  the  profligate  wife  of  his  predecessor,  the 
Emperor  Antoninus  Pius,  and  mother  of  the  Empress  Annia  Faus- 
tina, who  became  the  equally  dissolute  wife  of  her  first  cousin, 
M.  Aurelius,  and  the  mother  of  the  emperor  Commodus.  A  new 
street  on  the  Coelian  is  called  Via  Annia  from  the  famil}-. 

Near  this  also  was  the  Domus  Valeriorum,  belonging  to  tlie 
descendants  of  the  famous  Valerius  Publicola,  which  remained  in 
wonderful  preservation  till  the  seventeenth  century,  when  many 
beautiful  statues  were  removed  from  it,  including  the  Cupid  and 
Pysche  of  the  Uffizi.  The  villa  stood  near  the  church  and  monas- 
tery of  S.  Erasmo,  famous  in  mediaeval  times,  but  which  have  totally 
disappeared.  Another  great  Roman  house  in  this  neighbourhood 
was  that  of  the  Symmachi,  of  whom  Aurelius  Avianius  Symmachus, 
a  great  pagan  statesman  and  orator  of  the  fourth  century,  was  the 
builder  of  the  Ponte  Sisto. 


•_':J8  Walks  in  Rome 

Following  the  lane  of  S.  Stefano  Rotondo — skirted  by  broken 
fratrnients  of  Nero's  aqueduct,  but  much  spoilt  l>y  hideous  gas- 
works and  other  modern  buildings — almost  to  its  debouchment 
near  y.  John  Latoran,  and  tlien  turning  to  tlie  left,  we  reach  the 
quaint  fortress-like  church  and  convent  of  the  Santi  Quattro  In- 
coronati,'  crowned  by  a  stumpy  campanile  of  1112.  The  full  title 
of  this  churcii  is  "I  Santi  quattro  Pitlori  Incoronati  e  1  cinque 
Scultori  Martiri ; '  the  names  which  the  Church  attributes  to  the 
painters  being  Severus,  Severianus,  Carpoforus,  and  Vittorinus ; 
and  those  of  the  sculptors,  Claudius,  Nicostratus,  Sinforianus, 
Castorius.  and  Simplicius — who  all  sullered  for  refusing  to  carve 
and  paint  idols  for  Diocletian.  Their  festa  is  kept  on  Novem- 
ber 8th. 

This  church  was  founded  on  the  site  of  a  Temple  of  Diana  by 
Honorius  I.,  A.D.  622;  rebuilt  by  Leo  IV.,  A.D.  850;  and  again 
rebuilt  in  its  present  form  by  Paschal  II.,  who  consecrated  it 
afresh  in  A.D.  1111.  It  is  approached  through  a  double  court,  in 
which  are  many  ancient  columns — perhaps  remains  of  the  temple. 
Some  antiquaries  suppose  that  the  church  itself  was  once  of  larger 
size,  and  that  the  pillars  which  now  form  its  atrium  were  once 
included  in  the  nave.  The  interior  is  arranged  on  the  English  plan 
with  a  triforium  and  a  clerestory,  the  triforium  being  occupied  by 
the  nuns  of  the  adjoining  convent.  The  aisles  are  groined,  but 
the  nave  has  a  wooden  ceiling.  The  inscribed  pavement  may  be 
called  an  epigraphic  museum.-  Behind  the  tribune  is  a  vaulted 
passage,  partly  subterranean.  The  tribune  contains  a  marble 
throne,  and  is  adorned  with  frescoes  by  Gioidnni  di  San  Giovanni.'^ 
In  the  right  aisle  are  preserved  some  of  the  verses  of  Pope  Damasus. 
Another  inscription  tells  of  the  restoration  of  the  church  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  describes  the  state  of  desolation  into  which 
it  had  fallen  : — 

'  Hacc  quaecumciue  vitles  veteri  prostrata  ruiiia 
Obruta  verbenis,  ederis,  duniistiue  jacebant.' 

Opening  out  of  the  court  in  front  of  the  church  is  the  little 
Chapel  of  S.  Silvestro,  built  by  Innocent  II.  in  1140.  It  contains  a 
series  of  very  curious  frescoes. 

'  Showing  the  influeiiie  of  Byzantine  upon  Konian  art  is  the  little  chapel  of  S. 
Silvestrii,  (letailinj;  thf  liistory  of  tlie  conver-sion  of  Constantine  with  a  naivete 
which,  with  the  t- xception  of  a  certiiin  dignity  in  some  of  the  figures,  constitutes 
their  sole  attraction  They  are  indeed  little  better  than  Chinese  paintings  ;  the 
last  of  the  series,  reitreseiiting  Constantine  leading  Pope  Sylvester's  horse  by 
the  bridle,  walking  beside  him  in  his  long  Mowing  robe,  with  a  chattah  held 
over  his  head  by  an  attendant,  has  quite  an  Asiatic  character.'— Loni  Lindsay's 
'Christian  Art.' 

'  Here,  as  in  so  many  instances,  legend  is  the  genuine  reflex,  not  of  the  external, 
but  of  the  moral  part  of  history.  In  this  series  of  curious  wall-paintings  we  see 
Constantine  dismissing,  consoled  and  laden  with  gifts,  the  mothers  whose  children 

t  Key  on  the  right  of  the  entrance  court— 50  c. 

2  See  Lanciani,  '  Payan  and  Christian  Rome.' 

'■'■  Best  known  by  his  comic  pictures  in  the  Uffizi  at  Florence. 


S.  Clemente  239 

were  to  be  slaughtered  to  provide  a  bath  of  blood,  the  remedy  prescribed— but 
which  he  humanely  rejected — for  his  leprosy,  his  punishment  for  persecuting  the 
Church  while  he  yet  lingered  in  the  darkness  of  paganism  ;  we  see  the  vision  of 
S.  Peter  and  S.  Paul,  who  appear  to  him  in  his  dreams,  and  prescril)e  the  infallible 
cure  for  botli  physical  and  moral  disease  through  the  waters  of  baptism  ;  we  see 
the  mounted  ennssaries,  sent  by  the  emperor  to  seek  S.  Sylvester,  finding  that 
pontiff  concealed  in  a  cavern  on  Mount  Soracte  ;  we  see  that  saint  befoie  the 
emperor,  exhibiting  to  him  the  authentic  portraits  of  the  two  apostles  (said  to  be 
still  preserved  at  S.  Peter's),  pictures  in  which  Constantine  at  once  recognises  the 
forms  seen  in  his  vision,  assuming  them  to  be  gods  entitled  to  his  worship  ;  we 
see  the  imperial  l)aptism,  with  a  background  of  fantastic  architecture,  the  rite 
administered  both  by  immersion  (the  neophyte  standing  in  an  ample  font)  and 
affusion  ;  we  see  the  pope  on  a  throne,  before  which  the  emperor  is  kneeling,  to 
offer  him  a  tiara — no  doubt  the  artist  intended  thus  to  imply  the  immediate 
bestowal  of  temporal  sovereignty  (very  generally  believed  the  act  of  Constantine 
in  the  first  flush  of  his  gratitude  and  neophyte  zeal)  upon  the  papacy  ;  lastly,  we 
see  the  pontiff  riding  into  Piome  in  triumph,  Constantine  himself  leading  his 
horse,  and  other  mitred  bishops  following  on  horseliack.  Another  picture — 
evidently  by  the  same  hand — quaintly  represents  the  finding  of  the  true  cross  by 
S.  Helena,  and  the  miracle  by  which  it  was  distinguished  from  the  crosses  of  the 
two  thieves— a  subject  here  introduced  because  a  portion  of  that  revered  relic 
was  among  treasures  deposited  in  this  chapel,  as  an  old  inscription  on  one  side 
records.  The  largest  composition  on  these  walls,  which  complete  the  series, 
represents  the  Saviour  enthroned  amidst  angels  and  apostles.  This  chapel  is  now 
only  used  for  the  devotions  of  a  guild  of  marble-cutters,  and  open  for  mass  on  but 
one  Sunday — the  last — in  every  month.' — Hemans  '  Mediaeval  Christian  Art.' 

'  Ahi  Costantin  !  di  quanto  mal  fu  matre, 
Non  la  tua  conversion,  ma  quella  dote 
Che  da  te  prese  il  primo  ricco  patre.' 

— Dante,  Inf.  xix. 

In  the  fresco  of  the  Crucifixion  in  this  chapel  an  angel  is  repre- 
sented taking  off  the  crown  of  thorns  and  putting  on  a  real  crown, 
an  incident  nowhere  else  introduced  in  art. 

The  castellated  Convent  of  the  Santi  Quattro  was  built  by 
Paschal  II.  at  the  same  time  as  the  church,  and  was  used  as  a  papal 
palace  while  the  Lateian  was  in  ruins  ;  hence  its  defensive  aspect, 
suited  to  the  troublous  times  of  the  anti-popes.  It  is  still  inhabited 
by  Augustinian  nuns,  but  their  numbers  have  been  greatly  reduced 
since  the  change  of  government. 

At  the  foot  of  the  Coelian,  beneath  the  Incoronati,  and  in  the 
street  leading  from  the  Coliseum  to  the  Lateran,  is  the  Church  of 
S.  Clemente,  the  most  perfect  example  existing  of  the  architecture 
and  arrangements  of  an  early  chri.stian  basilica,  to  which  the  dis- 
coveries of  the  late  Irish  abbot.  Father  Mullooly  (who  died  June 
1880),  have  given  an  extraordinary  interest. 

The  upper  church,  in  spite  of  modernisations  under  Clement  XI. 
in  the  last  century,  retains  more  of  the  details  belonging  to  primi- 
tive ecclesiastical  architecture  than  any  other  building  in  Eome. 

S.  Clement,  sous  lequel  il  y  a  des  siecles  de  croyances  contraires  stratifies,  un 
monument  tres  ancien  du  temps  de  la  republique,  un  autre  du  temps  de  1 'empire, 
dans  lequel  on  a  reconnu  un  temple  de  Mithra,  enfin  une  basilique  de  la  primi- 
tive foi.' — Zola,  'Home.' 

It  was  consecrated  in  memory  of  Clement,  the  fellow-labourer  of 
S.  Paul  and  the  third  bishop  of  Rome,  upon  the  site  of  his  family 
house.     It  was  already  important  in  the  time  of  Gregory  the  Great, 


240  Walks  in  Rome 

who  here  read  his  tliirty-third  and  thirtv-eightli  }iomilies.  It  was 
altered  by  Adrian  1.  in  A.U.  772,  and  by  John  VIII.  in  A.D.  800,  and 
again  restored  in  A.u.  lO'.C.)  by  Paschal  IL,  who  had  been  cardinal 
of  the  church,  and  who  was  elected  to  the  papacy  within  its  walls. 
The  greater  part  of  the  existing  building  is  thus  either  of  the  ninth 
or  the  twelfth  century. 

At  the  west  end  a  porch,  supported  by  two  columns,  and  attributed 
to  the  eiglith  century,  leads  into  the  (juailripoi-ticus,  from  which  is 
the  entrance  to  the  nave,  separated  from  its  aisles  by  sixteen  columns 
evidently  plundered  from  pagan  buildings.  Raised  above  the  nave 
and  prr]tected  by  a  low  marble  wall  is  the  cancelluni,  preserving  its 
ancient  pavement,  ambones,  altar,  and  episcopal  throne. 

'  In  S.  Clemente,  built  on  the  site  of  his  paternal  mansion,  and  restored  at  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  an  example  is  still  to  be  seen,  in  perfect  pre- 
servation, of  the  primitive  church  ;  everytliin;:  remains  in  xtatu  i/tio — the  court, 
the  portico,  the  cancelluni,  the  ami, ones,  pascluil  camlkstick,  crypt,  and  ciborium 
— virgin  and  intact ;  the  wooden  roof  has  unfortunately  liisappeared,  and  a  small 
chapel,  dedicated  to  S.  Catherine,  has  been  added,  yet  even  this  is  atoned  for  by 
the  lovely  frescoes  of  Masaccio.  I  most  especially  recommend  this  relic  of  early 
Christianity  to  your  affectionate  and  tender  admiration.  Yet  the  beauty  of  S. 
Clemente  is  internal  only,  outwardly  it  is  little  more  than  a  barn.' — Lord  Lindsay. 

Perhaps  more  beautiful  than  any  other  example  in  the  world  are 
the  traiuennae,  or  pierced  screens,  removed  from  the  lower  church, 
where  they  stood  in  front  of  the  relics  of  S.  Clement  and  S.  Ignatius. 
The  ciborium  on  the  right  of  the  altar  is  of  great  beauty,  and  is 
surmounted  by  a  precious  little  statuette  of  the  Magdalen. 

On  the  right  of  the  side  entrance  is  the  chapel  of  the  Passion, 
clothed  with  frescoes  of  Masarcio,  which,  though  restored,  are  very 
beautiful ;  over  the  altar  is  the  Crucifixion  ;  on  the  side  walls  the 
stories  of  S.  Clement  and  S.  Catherine. 

'  The  celebrated  series  relating  to  S.  Catherine  is  still  more  striking  in  the  grace 
and  retlnement  of  its  principal  tigiu-es  : — 

'  1.  S.  Catherine  (cousin  of  the  Emperor  Constantine)  refuses  to  worship  idols. 

'2.  She  converts  the  empress  of  Maxiniin.  She  is  seen  through  a  window 
seated  inside  a  prison,  and  the  empress  is  seated  outside  the  prison,  opposite  to 
her,  in  a  graceful  listening  attitude. 

'3.  The  empress  is  l)eheaded,  and  her  soul  is  carried  to  heaven  by  an  angel. 

'  4.  Catherine  disputes  with  the  pagan  philosophers.  She  is  standing  in  the 
midst  of  a  hall,  the  forefinger  of  one  hand  laid  on  the  other,  as  in  the  act  of 
demonstrating.  She  is  represented  fair  and  girlish,  dressed  with  great  simplicity 
in  a  tunic  and  girdle— no  crown,  nor  any  other  attrilnite.  The  sages  are  ranged 
on  each  side,  some  lost  in  tliought,  others  in  astonishment ;  the  tyrant  (Maximin) 
is  seen  behind,  as  if  watching  the  conference  :  while  through  an  open  window  we 
behold  the  fire  kindled  for  the  converted  philosophers,  and  the  scene  of  their 
execution. 

'5.  Catherine  is  delivered  from  the  wheels,  which  are  broken  by  an  angel. 

'6.  She  is  beheaded.  In  the  background,  three  angels  lay  her  in  a  sarcophagus 
on  the  summit  of  Mount  Sinai.' — See  Jameson  a  '  Sacred  Art,'  p.  491. 

'  "  Masaccio,"  says  Vasari,  "  whose  enthusiasm  for  art  would  not  allow  him  to 
rest  contentedly  at  Florence,  resolved  to  go  to  Kome,  that  lie  might  learn  there 
to  surpass  every  other  painter."  It  was  during  this  journey,  which,  in  fact,  added 
much  to  his  renown,  that  he  painted,  in  the  Chnrcli  of  San  Clemente,  the  chapel 
which  now  so  usually  disai)points  the  expectations  of  the  traveller,  on  account  of 
the  successive  restorations  by  which  his  work  has  been  disfigured.  .  .  .  The  heavy 


S.  Clemente  241 

brush  wliich  has  passed  over  each  eompaitnient  has  spared  neither  the  delicacy 
of  tlie  outline,  the  roundness  of  the  forms,  nor  the  play  of  light  and  shade  :  in  a 
word,  nothing  which  constitutes  tlie  peculiar  merit  of  Masaccio.' — Rio,  'Poetry 
of  Christian  Art.' 

At  the  end  of  the  right  aisle  is  the  beautiful  tomb  of  Cardinal 
Rovarella,  ob.  1476,  with  a  relief  sometimes  attributed  to  Mino  da 
Fiesole.  Near  it  is  the  tomb  of  Cardinal  Brusato.  A  statue  of  S. 
John  the  Baptist  is  by  Simone,  brother  of  Donatello.  At  the  end 
of  the  left  aisle  is  the  fine  tomb  of  Cardinal  Ant.  Veniero,  1479. 
Beneath  the  altar  repose  the  relics  of  S.  Clement,  S.  Ignatius  of 
Antioch,  martyred  in  the  Coliseum,  S.  Cyril  and  S.  Servulus. 

'  S.  Gregoire  raconte  que  de  son  temps  on  voyait  dans  le  vestibule  de  I'eglise 
Saint  Clement  un  pauvre  paralytique,  priant  et  mendiant,  sans  que  jamais  une 
plainte  sortit  de  sa  bouche,  malgre  les  vives  douleurs  qu'il  endurait.  Chaque 
tidele  lui  donnait.  et  le  paralytique  distribuait  a  son  tour  aux  malheureux  ce 
qu'il  avait  regu  de  la  compassion  publique.  Lorsqu'il  mourut,  son  corps  fut 
place  pres  de  celui  de  Saint  Clement,  pape,  et  de  Saint  Ignace  d'Antioche,  et 
son  nom  fut  inscrit  au  martyrologe.  On  le  venere  dans  I'Eglise  sous  le  nom  de 
saint  Servulus.' — '  Une  Chretienne  a  Rome.' 

The  mosaics  in  the  tribune  are  "well  worth  examination. 
• 

'  There  are  few  christian  mosaics  in  which  mystic  meaning  and  poetic  imagi- 
nation are  more  felicitous  than  in  those  on  the  apse  of  S.  Clemente,  where  the 
crucifix  and  a  wide-spreading  vine  tree  (allusive  to  His  words  who  said  "I  am 
the  True  Vine")  spring  from  the  same  stem;  twelve  doves,  emblems  of  the 
apostles,  being  on  the  cross  with  the  Divine  Sufferer;  the  Mother  and  S.  John 
beside  it,  the  usual  hand  stretched  out  in  glory  above,  with  a  crown  ;  the  four 
doctors  of  the  Church,  also  other  small  figures,  men  and  birds,  introduced 
amidst  the  mazy  vine  foliage  ;  and  at  the  basement,  the  four  mystic  rivers,  with 
stags  and  peacocks  drinking  at  their  streams.  The  figure  of  S.  Dominic  is  a 
modern  addition.  It  seems  evident,  from  characteristics  of  style,  that  the  other 
mosaics  here,  above  the  apsidal  arch,  and  at  the  spandrels,  are  more  ancient, 
perhaps  by  about  a  centnry  :  these  latter  representing  the  Saviour  in  bene- 
diction, the  four  Evangelic  emblems,  S.  Peter  and  S.  Clement,  S.  Paul  and 
S.  Laurence  seated  ;  the  two  apostles  designated  by  their  names,  with  the  Greek 
"hagios"in  Latin  letters.  The  later  art-work  was  ordered  (see  the  Latin  in- 
scription below),  in  1299,  by  a  cardinal  titular  of  S.  Clemente,  nephew  to 
Boniface  VIII.  ;  the  same  who  also  bestowed  the  beautiful  gothic  tal)ernacle  for 
the  holy  oils,  with  a  relief  rexiresenting  the  donor  presented  by  S.  Dominic  to 
the  Virgin  and  Child — set  against  the  wall  near  the  tribune,  an  admirable, 
though  but  an  accessorial,  object  of  mediaeval  wct.'—Hemans  'Mediaeval  Art.' 

From  the  sacristy  a  staircase  (adorned  with  many  ancient  frag- 
ments, including  a  curious  and  beautiful  statuette  of  S.  Peter  as 
the  Good  Shepiierd)  leads  to  the  Lo'wer  Church,  occasionally 
illuminated  for  the  public,  first  discovered  in  1857,  and  unearthed 
by  the  indefatigable  energy  of  Father  Mullooly.  Here  there  are 
many  pillars  of  the  rarest  marbles  in  perfect  preservation,  and  a 
very  curious  series  of  frescoes  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries, 
parts  of  which  are  still  clear  and  almost  uninjured.  These  include  : 
the  Crucifixion,  with  the  Virgin  and  S.  John  standing  by  the  cross 
— the  earliest  example  in  Rome  of  this  well-known  subject  ;  the 
Ascension,  sometimes  called  by  Romanists  (in  preparation  for  their 
dogma  of  1870),  'the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin,'  because  the  figure 
of  the  Virgin  is  elevated  above  the  other  apostles,  though  she  is 
VOL.  I.  O 


242  Walks  in  Rome 

evidentlv  intent,  on  watchinsj;  the  retreating  figure  of  her  Divine 
Son— in' this  fresco  the  figure  of  a  pope  is  introduced  (with  the 
square  nimbus,  showing  that  it  was  painted  in  his  lifetime),  and 
the  inscription,  '  .Sanctissimus  (iominus,  Leo  Papa  Romanus,' pro- 
bably Leo  III.  or  Leo  IV.;  the  Maries  at  the  Sepulchre;  the 
Descent  into  Hades  ;  the  Marriage  of  Cana  ;  the  Funeral  of  S.  Cyril, 
with  Pope  Nicholas  I.  (858-67)  walking  in  the  procession  ;  and,  the 
most  interesting  of  all — probably  of  somewhat  later  date — the  story 
of  S.  Clemente,  and  that  of  S.  Alexis,  whose  adventures  are 
described  in  the  account  of  his  church  in  the  Aventine.  The 
paintings  bear  the  names  of  their  donor,  lieno  de  Rapiza,  his  wife 
Maria  Macellaria,  and  his  children  Clemente  and  Attilia.  Beneath 
this  crypt,  approached  by  a  staircase  and  a  narrow  passage  of 
great  interest,  as  showing  at  once  the  masonry  of  the  kings,  the 
republic,  and  the  empire,  is  still  a  third  structure,  discovered  1807 
— probably  the  very  house  of  S.  Clement  (decorated  with  rich 
stucco  ornament) — sometimes  supposed  to  be  the  '  cavern  near 
S.  Clemente'  to  which  the  Emperor  Otho  III.,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  twenty-two,  retired  in  A.D.  ;in9  with  his  confessor,  and  where 
he  spent' fourteen  days  in  penitential  retreat.  An  altar  and  other 
relics  found  here  show  that  this  most  ancient  christian  church  was 
used  as  a  temple  of  Mithras,  after  the  worship  of  that  Persian  deity 
was  introduced,  to  whom  human  sacrifices  were  offered  at  Rome  in 
the  reign  of  Commodus.  This  third  church  is  unfortunately  often 
under  water,  and  very  unhealthy. 

According  to  the  Acts  of  the  Martyrs,  the  Prefect  Mamertinus 
ordered  the  arrest  of  Pope  Clement,  and  intended  to  put  him  to 
death,  but  was  deterred  by  a  tumult  of  the  people,  who  cried  with 
one  voice,  '  What  evil  has  he  done,  or  rather  what  good  has  he  not 
done?'  Clement  was  then  condemned  to  exile  in  the  Chersonese, 
and  Mamertinus,  touched  by  his  submission  and  courage,  dismissed 
him  with  the  words,  '  May  the  God  you  worship  bring  you  relief 
in  the  place  of  your  banishment.' 

In  his  exile  Clement  received  into  the  Church  more  than  two 
hundred  Christians  who  had  been  waiting  for  baptism,  and  miracu- 
lously discovered  water  for  their  support  in  a  barren  rock,  to  which 
he  was  directed  by  a  Lamb,  in  whose  form  he  recognised  the 
guidance  of  the  Son  of  God.  The  enthusiasm  which  these  marvels 
excited  led  Trajan  to  send  executioners  to  Cherson  (now  Inkerman), 
by  whom  Clement  was  tied  to  an  anchor  and  thrown  into  the  sea. 
But  his  disciples,  kneeling  on  the  shore,  prayed  that  his  relics  might 
be  given  up  to  them,  upon  which  the  waves  retired,  and  disclosed 
a  marble  chapel,  built  by  unearthly  hands,  over  the  tomb  of  the 
saint.  From  the  Chersonese  the  remains  of  S.  Clement  were 
brought  back  to  Rome  by  S.  Cyril,  the  Apostle  of  the  Slavonians, 
who,  dying  here  himself,  was  buried  by  his  side. 


CHAPTER    VIII 
THE  AVENTINE 

Jewish  Burial-ground— S.  Sabina— S.  Alessio— Tlie  Pnorato— S.  Prisca—  The 
Vigna  dei  Gesuiti— S.  Sabba — S.  Balbina. 

n^HE  Aventine,  which  is  perhaps  the  highest,  and  now,  from  its 
A  coronet  of  convents,  tlie  most  picturesque  of  all  the  Roman 
hills,  is  of  irregular  form,  and  is  divided  into  two  parts  by  a  valley  : 
one  side,  the  higher,  is  crowned  by  the  churches  of  S.  Sabina,  S. 
Alessio,  and  the  Priorato,  which  together  form  '  the  Capitol  of  the 
Aventine  ; '  the  other,  known  as  the  Pseudo-Aventine,  is  marked  by 
the  churches  of  S.  Sabba  and  S.  Balbina. 

Virgil  and  Ovid  allude  repeatedly  to  the  thick  woods  which  once 
clothed  the  Aventine.^  Dionysius  speaks  of  the  laurels  or  bays,  an 
indigenous  tree  of  ancient  Rome,  which  grew  there  in  abundance. 
Only  one  side  of  the  hill,  that  towards  the  Tiber,  now  shows  any  of 
the  natural  cliff,  but  it  was  once  remarkable  for  its  rocks,  and  the 
Pseudo-Aventine  obtained  the  name  of  Saxum  from  a  huge  solitary 
mass  of  stone  which  surmounted  it — 

'Est  moles  nativa;  loco  res  nomiiia  fecit: 

Appellant  Saxum  :  pars  bona  montis  ea  est.'  2 

The  upper  portion  of  the  hill  is  of  volcanic  formation,  and  it  is 
supposed  that  the  legend  of  Cacus  vomiting  forth  flames  from  his 
cave  on  the  side  of  the  Aventine  had  its  origin  in  noxious  sulphuric 
vapours  emitted  by  the  soil,  as  is  still  the  case  at  the  Solfatara  on 
the  way  to  Tivoli.  The  demi-god  Faunus,  who  had  an  oracle  at 
the  Solfatara,  had  also  an  oracle  on  this  hill.^ 

Some  derive  the  name  of  Aventine  from  Aventinus  Silvius,  king 
of  Alba,  who  was  buried  here  ;•*  others  from  Avens,  a  Sabine  river  ; 
while  others  say  that  the  name  simply  means  '  the  hill  of  birds,'  and 
connect  it  with  the  story  of  the  foundation  of  the  city.  For  when 
it  became  necessary  to  decide  whether  Romulus  or  Remus  was  to 
rule  over  the  newly  built  Rome,  Romulus  seated  himself  upon  the 
Palatine  to  watch  the  heavens,  but  Remus  upon  the  rock  of  the 
Pseudo-Aventine.    Here  Remus  saw  only  six  vultures,  while  Romulus 

1  Virgil,  Aen.  viii.  104,  108,  216 ;  Ovid,  Fast.  i.  551. 

2  Ovid,  Fast.  v.  149. 

3  Ampere,  Hist,  lioin.  i.  79. 

4  Varro,  iv,  7. 

243 


244  Walks  in  Rome 

saw  twelve,  but  each  interpreted  the  augury  in  his  own  favour,  and 
Remus  leapt  across  the  boundary  of  the  Palatine,  whether  in  deri- 
sion or  war,  and  was  slain  by  his  brother,  or  by  Celer,  one  of  his  fol- 
lowers. He  was  brouglit  back  and  buried  upon  the  Aventine,  and 
the  stone  whence  he  had  watched  the  vultures  was  thenceforth 
called  the  Sacred  Rock.  Ancient  tradition  places  the  tomb  of 
Remus  on  the  Pseudo-Aventine,  but  in  the  Middle  Ages  the  tomb  of 
Caius  Cestius  was  believed— even  by  Petrarch— to  be  the  monument 
of  Remus. 

Some  authorities  consider  that  when  Remus  was  watching  the 
vultures  on  the  Pseudo-Aventine,  that  part  of  the  hill  was  already 
occupied  by  a  Pelasgic  fortress  called  Romoria,  but  at  this  time, 
and  for  long  afterwards,  the  higher  part  of  the  Aventine  was  held 
bv  the  Sabines.  Here  the  Sabine  king  Numa  dedicated  an  altar  to 
Jupiter  Elicius,'  and  the  Sabvne  god  Census  had  also  an  altar  here. 
Hither  Numa  came  to  visit  the  forest-gods  Faunus  and  Picus  at 
their  sacred  fountain — 

'  Lnciis  Aventino  suberat  niger  ilicis  umbra, 

Quo  posses  viso  dicere,  Numen  inest. 
In  medio  gramen,  muscoque  adoperta  virenti 

Manabat  saxo  vena  perennis  aquae. 
Inde  fere  soli  Faunus  Picus(iue  biliebant.'^ 

By  mingling  wine  and  honey  with  the  waters  of  their  spring, 
Numa  snared  the  gods,  and  compelled  them  to  tell  him  how  he 
miffht  learn  from  Jupiter  the  knowledge  of  his  will,  and  to  reveal 
to  him  a  charm  against  thunder  and  lightning.^ 

The  Sabine  king  Tatius,  the  rival  of  Romulus,  was  buried  on  the 
Aventine  '  in  a  great  grove  of  laurels,'  and  at  his  tomb,  then  called 
Armilustrum,  it  was  the  custom  every  year,  in  the  month  of  October, 
to  hold  a  feast  for  the  purification  of  arms,  accompanied  by  martial 
dances.  A  horse  was  at  the  same  time  sacrificed  to  Janus,  the  Sabine 
war-god. ■* 

Ancus  Martins  surrounded  the  Aventine  by  a  wall,^  and  settled 
there  many  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of  Latin  towns  which  he 
had  subdued.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  plebs,  who  were  soon  to 
become  such  formidable  opponents  of  the  first  colonists  of  the 
Palatine,  who  took  rank  as  patricians,  and  who  at  first  found  in 
them  an  important  counterpoise  to  the  power  of  the  original  Sabine 
inhabitants,  against  whom  the  little  Latin  colony  of  Romulus  had 
hitherto  been  standing  alone.  The  Aventine  continued  always  to 
be  the  especial  property  and  sanctuary  of  the  plebs  ;  the  patricians 
avoiding  it,  in  the  first  instance,  it  is  supposed,  from  an  impression 
that  the  hill  was  of  evil  omen,  owing  to  the  story  of  Remus.  In 
B.C.  416  the  tribune  Icilius  proposed  and  carried  a  law  by  which 
all  the  public  lands  of  the  Aventine  were  ofiicially  conferred  upon 

1  Livy,  i.  20. 

2  Ovid,  FaM.  iii.  295. 

s  'Onions,  hair,  and  pilchards.'     See  Plutarch's  'Life  of  Numa.' 
•*  Arapfere,  Hiftt.  Horn.  i.  427. 
5  Dionysius,  iii.  43. 


Story  of  the  Aventine  245 

the  plebs,  who  forthwith  began  to  cover  its  heights  with  houses,  in 
which  each  family  of  the  people  had  a  right  in  one  floor — a  custom 
which  still  prevails  at  Rome.  At  this  time,  also,  the  Aventine 
was  included  for  the  first  time  within  the  pomoerium  or  religious 
boundary  of  the  city.  Owing  to  its  being  the  '  hill  of  the  people,' 
the  commons  henceforth  held  their  comitia  and  elected  their 
tribunes  here  ;  and  here,  after  the  murder  of  Virginia,  to  whom 
the  tribune  Icilius  had  been  betrothed,  the  army  assembled  against 
Appius  Claudius. 

Very  little  remains  of  the  numerous  temples  which  once  adorned 
the  hill,  but  their  sites  are  tolerably  well  ascertained.  We  still 
ascend  the  Aventine  by  the  ancient  Clivus  Publicius,  originally 
paved  by  two  brothers  Publicii,  who  were  aediles  at  the  same 
time,  and  had  embezzled  a  sum  of  public  money,  which  they  were 
compelled  to  expend  thus — 

'  Parte  locant  clivuni,  qui  tunc  erat  arJua  rupes  : 
Utile  nunc  iter  est,  Publiciuniqiie  vocant.'  i 

At  the  foot  of  this  road  was  the  Temple  of  Luna  or  Jana,  in 
which  Tatius  had  also  erected  an  altar  to  Janus  or  the  Sun — 

'  Luna  regit  menses  ;  hujus  quoque  tenipora  meusis 
Finit  Aventino  Luna  coleiula  jugo.'  '- 

It  was  up  this  road  that  Caius  Gracchus,  a  few  hours  before  his 
death,  fled  to  take  refuge  in  a  small  Temple  of  Diana,  which  stood 
somewhere  near  the  present  site  of  S.  Alessio,  where,  kneeling 
before  the  statue  of  the  goddess,  he  implored  that  the  people  who 
had  betrayed  him  might  never  be  free.  Close  by,  singularly  enough, 
rose  the  Temple  of  Liberty,  which  his  grandfather  Sempronius 
Gracchus  had  built.  Adjoining  this  temple  was  a  hall  where  the 
archives  of  the  censors  were  kept,  and  where  they  transacted 
business  ;  this  was  rebuilt  by  Asinius  Pollio,  who  added  to  it  the 
first  public  library  established  in  Rome — 

'Nee  me,  quae  doctis  patuerunt  prima  libellis 
Atria  Libertas  tangere  passa  sua  est.'^ 

In  the  same  group  stood  the  famous  sanctuary  of  Juno  Regina, 
vowed  by  Camillus  during  the  siege  of  Veil,  and  to  which  the  Juno 
of  the  captured  city  was  removed  after  she  had  given  a  verbal 
consent  when  asked  whether  she  wished  to  go  to  Rome  and  inhabit 
a  new  temple,  much  as  the  modern  queen  of  heaven  is  apt  to  do  in 
modern  times  at  Rome.'*  The  Temples  of  Liberty  and  Juno  were 
both  rebuilt  under  Augustus ;  some  imagine  that  they  were  under 
a  common  roof.  If  they  were  distinct  buildings,  nothing  of  the 
former  remains ;  some  beautiful  columns  built  into  the  church  of 

>  Ovid,  Fast.  v.  293. 

2  Fast.  iii.  883. 

3  Ovid,  Trist.  iii.  1.  71. 

■*  See  tlie  account  of  the  Ch.  of  S.  Francesca  Eomana,  Cliap.  IV. 


246  Walks  in  Rome 

S.  Sabina  are  all  that  remain  of  the  Temple  of  Juno,  though  Livy 
thought  that  her  reign  here  would  be  eternal — 

'.  .  .  in  Avcntinuin,  aetcniain  sedeiii  suiiiu.' ' 

Also  belonging  to  this  group  was  a  Temple  of  Minerva — 

'  Sol  abit  a  Geminis,  et  Caiicri  signa  rubescunt : 
Coepit  Aventina  Pallas  in  arce  coli."- 

Ilere  the  dramatist  Livius  Andronicus,  who  lived  upon  the 
Aventine,  was  honoured  after  his  death  by  a  company  of  scribes 
and  actors.  Another  poet  who  lived  upon  the  Aventine  was  Ennius, 
who  is  described  as  inhabiting  a  humble  dwelling,  and  being 
attended  by  a  single  female  slave.  The  poet  Gallus  also  lived 
here — 

'  Totis,  Galle,  jubes  *jbi  me  servire  diebus, 
Et  per  Aventinuni  ter  quarter  ire  tuuni !'  * 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Aventine  (above  the  Circus  Maximus), 
which  was  originally  covered  with  myrtle — a  shrub  now  almost 
extinct  at  Rome — on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  convent  of 
S.  Prisca,  was  a  more  important  Temple  of  Diana,  sometimes  called 
by  the  Sabine  name  of  Murcia, — built  in  imitation  of  the  Temple 
of  Diana  at  Ephesus.     Propertius  writes — 

'  Vhyllis  Aventiuae  quaedani  est  Dianae  ;'  •• 

and  Martial — 

'  Quique  videt  propius  magni  certamina  Circi 
Laudat  Aventinae  vicinus  Sura  Dianae.' 5 

Here,  till  the  time  of  Dionysius,  was  preserved  the  pillar  of  brass 
on  which  was  engraved  the  law  of  Icilius. 

Near  this  were  the  groves  of  Siraila,  the  retreat  of  the  infamous 
association  discovered  and  terribly  punished  at  the  time  of  the 
Greek  wars  ;  and — in  the  time  of  the  empire — the  gardens  of 
Servilia,  where  she  received  the  devotion  of  Julius  Caesar,  and  in 
which  her  son  Brutus  is  said  to  have  conspired  his  murder,  and 
to  have  been  interrogated  by  his  wife  Portia  as  to  the  mystery, 
which  he  refused  to  reveal  to  her,  fearing  her  weakness  under 
torture,  until,  by  the  concealment  of  a  terrible  wound  which  she 
had  given  to  herself,  she  had  shown  him  that  the  daughter  of  Cato 
could  suffer  and  be  silent. 

The  Aventine  continued  to  be  inhabited,  and  even  populous,  until 
the  sixth  century,  from  which  period  its  prosperity  began  to  decline. 
In  the  eleventh  century  it  was  occupied  by  the  camp  of  Henry  IV. 
of  Germany,  when  he  came  in  war  against  Gregory  VII.  In  the 
thirteenth  century  Honorius  III.  made  a  final  effort  to  re-establish 


»  Livy,  V.  22.  2  Ovid,  Fast.  vi.  727. 

■>  -Mart.  Kp.  x.  X.  *  Propert.  El.  iv.  5  Mart.  Ep.  vi.  64. 


S.  Sabina  247 

its  popularity  ;  but  with  each  succeeding  generation  it  has  become 
— partly  owing  to  the  ravages  of  malaria — more  and  more  deserted, 
until  now  its  sole  inhabitants  are  monks  and  the  few  ague-stricken 
contadini  who  look  after  the  monastic  vineyards.  In  wandering 
along  its  desolate  lanes,  hemmed  in  by  heilges  of  elder,  or  by  walls 
covered  with  parasitical  plants,  it  is  diUlcult  to  realise  the  time 
when  it  was  so  thickly  poijulated  ;  and,  except  in  the  quantities 
of  coloured  marbles  with  which  its  fields  and  vineyards  are  strewn, 
there  is  nothing  to  remind  one  of  the  K!  aediculae,  6-1  baths, 
25  granaries,  88  fountains,  180  of  the  larger  houses  called  domus 
and  2487  of  the  poorer  houses  called  insulae,  which  occupied  this 
site. 

The  present  interest  of  the  hill  is  almost  wholly  ecclesiastical, 
and  centres  around  the  story  of  S.  Dominic,  and  the  legends  of  the 
saints  and  martyrs  connected  with  its  different  churches. 

The  best  approach  to  the  Aventine  is  behind  the  Church  of 
S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  where  the  Via  S.  Sabina,  once  the  Clivus 
Publicius  (available  for  carriages),  turns  up  the  hill. 

A  lane  on  the  left  leads  to  the  Jewish  Burial -Ground,  used  as 
a  place  of  sepulture  for  the  Ghetto  for  many  centuries.  A  curious 
instance  of  the  cupidity  attributed  to  the  Jewish  race  may  be  seen 
in  the  fact  that  they  have,  for  a  remuneration  of  four  baiocchi, 
habitually  given  leave  to  their  neighbours  to  discharge  the  contents 
of  a  rubbish-cart  into  their  cemetery,  a  permission  of  which  the 
Eomans  have  so  abundantly  availed  themselves,  that  the  level  of 
the  soil  has  been  raised  by  many  yards,  and  whole  sets  of  older 
monuments  have  been  completely  swallowed  up,  and  new  ones 
erected  over  their  heads. 

After  we  turn  the  corner  at  the  hill-top,  with  its  fine  view  over 
the  Palatine,  and  cross  the  trench  of  fortification  formed  during  the 
fear  of  a  Garibaldian  invasion  in  1867,  we  skirt  what  appears  to  be 
part  of  a  city  wall.^  This  is  in  fact  the  wall  of  the  Honorian  city, 
built  by  Pope  Honorius  III.,  of  the  great  family  of  Savelli,  whose 
idea  was  to  render  the  Aventine  once  more  the  populous  and 
favourite  portion  of  the  city,  and  who  began  great  works  for  this 
purpose.  Before  his  arrangements  were  completed  S.  Dominic 
arrived  in  Rome,  and  was  appointed  master  of  the  papal  household 
and  abbot  of  the  convent  of  S.  Sabina,  where  his  ministrations  and 
popularity  soon  formed  such  an  attraction,  that  the  pope  wisely 
abandoned  his  design  of  founding  a  new  city  which  would  com- 
memorate himself,  and  left  the  field  to  S.  Dominic,  to  whom  he 
made  over  the  land  on  this  side  of  the  hill.  Henceforward  the 
convent  of  S.  Sabina  and  its  surroundings  have  become,  more 
than  any  other  spot,  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Dominican 
Order — there  all  the  great  saints  of  the  order  have  received  their 

'  Tlie  lane  along  the  outside  of  the  wall  leads  down  to  join  the  Via  .Salaia  near 
Ihe  little  chapel  of  S.  Anna. 


•J  18  Walks  in  Rome 

first  inspiration,  have  resided,  or  are  buried;  there  S.  Dominic 
himself  received  in  a  beatific  vision  the  institution  of  the  rosary  ; 
there  he  was  ordered  to  plant  tiie  famous  orange-tree,  which,  being 
then  unknown  in  Home,  he  brought  from  his  native  Spain  as  the 
only  present  which  it  was  suitable  for  the  gratitude  of  a  poor  monk 
to  offer  to  his  patron  Honorius,  who  was  himself  one  of  the  great 
botanists  of  his  time — an  orango-tree  which  was  described  by  John 
Evelvn  in  KKU,  and  which  still  lives,  and  is  firmly  -believed  to 
tlourish  or  fail  with  the  fortunes  of  the  Dominican  Order,  so  that  it 
has  been  greatly  the  worse  for  the  suppression  of  convents  ;  though 
the  brief  residence  of  Pure  Lacordaire  at  S.  Sabina  is  said  to  have 
proved  exceedingly  beneficial  to  it,  and  his  visit  even  caused  a  new 
sucker  to  sprout. 

The  Church  of  S.  Sabina  was  built  on  the  site  of  the  house  of 
the  saint — in  which  she  suffered  martyrdom  under  the  Emperor 
Hadrian,' in  A.D.  124 — by  PL*er,  a  priest  of  Illyria,  'rich  for  the 
poor,  and  poor  for  himself  {panpcrihus  locuples,  nbi  pauper),  as 
we  read  in  the  mosaic  inscription  inside  the  principal  entrance. 
8.  Gregory  the  Great  read  two  of  his  homilies  here.  The  church 
was  rebuilt  in  824,  and  restored  and  reconsecrated  by  Gregory  IX. 
in  1238.  Much  of  its  interest — ancient  pavements,  mosaics,  &c. 
— was  destroyed  in  1587  by  Sixtus  V.,  who  took  the  credit  of 
discovering  the  relics  of  the  martyrs  who  are  buried  beneath  the 
altar. 

On  the  west  is  a  covered  corridor  containing  several  ancient 
inscriptions.  It  is  supported  on  one  side  by  ancient  spiral  columns 
of  pavonazzetto ;  on  the  other  these  have  been  plundered  and 
replaced  by  granite.  Hence,  through  a  window,  ladies  are  allowed 
to  gaze  upon  the  celebrated  orange-tree,  about  670  years  old,  which 
they  cannot  approach  ;  a  rude  figure  of  S.  Dominic  is  sculptured 
upon  the  low  wall  which  surrounds  it. 

'  .J'ai  vu  un  arln-e  plante  par  le  bienheureux  S.  Dominiiiue  a  Rome  ;  chacuu  le  va 
voir  et  c-hi';rit  pour  I'amour  du  planteur :  c'est  pouniuoi  ayant  vu  en  vous  I'arbre 
ciu  (liisir  de  saintet6  que  notre  .Seifrneur  a  plants  eii  votre  unie,  je  le  cheris  tendre- 
nieiit,  et  prends  plaisir  a  le  considerer  .  .  .  je  vous  exhorte  den  faire  de  nieine, 
et  de  dire  avec  nioi  :  Dieu  vous  croisse,  o  l)el  ar))re  planti5 1  divine  semence  celeste, 
Dieu  vous  veuille  faire  produire  votre  fruit  u  niaturit6.' — S.  Francois  de  Sales  a 
S.  Jeanne  Fran<;oise  de  Cliantal. 

The  west  door,  of  the  twelfth  century,  in  a  richly  sculptured 
frame,  is  cited  by  Kugler  as  an  instance  of  the  extinction  of  the 
Byzantine  influence  upon  art.  Its  panels  are  covered  with  carvings 
from  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  referred  by  Mamachi  to  the 
.seventh,  by  Agincourt  to  the  thirteenth  century.  Some  of  the 
subjects  have  been  destroyed ;  among  those  which  remain  are 
the  Annunciation,  the  Angels  appearing  to  the  Shepherds,  the  Angel 
and  Zacharias  in  the  Temple,  the  Magi,  Moses  turning  the  Rods 

1  There  is  a  beautiful  picture  of  S.  Sabina.  by  Vi  varini  of  Murano,  in  S.  Zacharia 
at  Venice. 


S.  Sabina  249 

into  Serpents,  the  Ascent  of  Elijah,  Christ  before  Pilate,  the  Denial 
of  Peter,  and  the  Ascension.  The  Crucifixion  (in  the  left  corner  at 
the  top),  probably  one  of  the  eai;}iest  representations  of  the  subject, 
has  the  figures  on  the  crosses  fully  draped.  Within  the  entrance 
are  the  only  remains  of  the  magnificent  mosaic,  erected  in  431, 
under  Celestine  I.  (which  entirely  covered  the  west  wall  till  the 
time  of  Sixtus  v.),  consisting  of  an  inscription  in  large  letters,  with 
a  female  figure  on  either  side,  that  on  the  left  bearing  the  name 
'  Ecclesia  cum  circumcisione,'  that  on  the  right,  '  Ecclesia  ex  gen- 
tibus.'  Among  the  parts  destroyed  were  the  four  beasts  typical  of 
the  Evangelists,  and  S.  Peter  and  S.  Paul.  The  church  was  thus 
gorgeously  decorated,  because,  in  the  time  of  the  Savelli  popes,  it 
was  what  the  Sistine  is  now,  the  Chiesa  Apostolica. 

The  nave  is  lined  by  twenty-four  corinthian  columns  of  white 
marble,  relics  of  the  Temple  of  Juno  Regina,  which  once  stood  here. 
Above  is  an  inlaid  frieze  of  pietra-dura,  of  A.D.  431,  which  once 
extended  up  to  the  windows,  but  was  destroyed  by  Sixtus  V..  who 
at  the  same  time  built  up  the  windows  which  till  then  existed  over 
each  pier.  In  the  middle  of  the  pavement  near  the  altar  is  a 
very  curious  mosaic  figure  over  the  grave  of  Munoz  de  Zamora, 
a  General  of  the  Dominican  Order,  who  died  in  1300.  Nearer  the 
west  door  are  interesting  incised  slabs  representing  a  German 
bishop  1  and  a  lady,  benefactors  of  this  church,  and  (on  the  left) 
a  slab  with  arms  in  mosaic,  to  a  lady  of  the  Savelli  family.  In  the 
left  aisle  is  another  monument  of  1312,  commemorating  a  warrior 
of  the  imperial  house  of  Germany.  The  high  altar  covers  the  re- 
mains of  Sabina  and  Seraphia,  Alexander  the  Pope,  Eventius  and 
Theodulus,  all  martyrs.  In  the  chapel  beneath,  S.  Dominic  is  said 
to  have  flagellated  himself  three  times  nightly,  '  perche  un  colpo 
solo  non  abbastava  per  mortificare  il  carne.' 

At  the  end  of  the  right  aisle  is  the  Chapel  of  the  Rosary,  where 
a  beautiful  picture  of  Sassoferrato,  called  '  La  Madonna  del  Rosario,' 
commemorates  the  vision  of  S.  Dominic  on  that  spot,  in  which  he 
received  the  rosary  from  the  hands  of  the  Virgin. 

'  S.  Catherine  of  Siena  kneels  with  S.  Dominic  before  the  throne  of  the  Madonna; 
the  lily  at  her  feet.  The  infant  Saviour  is  turned  towards  her,  and  with  one  hand 
He  crowns  her  with  thorns,  with  the  other  He  presents  the  rosary.  This  is  the 
masterpiece  of  the  painter,  with  all  his  usual  elegance,  without  his  usual  in- 
sipidity.'— Jameson's  'Monastic  Orders.' 

Few  Roman  Catholic  practices  have  excited  more  animadversion 
than  the  '  vain  repetition '  of  the  worship  of  the  rosary.  The  Pere 
Lacordaire  (a  Dominican)  defended  it,  saying — 

'  Le  rationaliste  sourit  en  voyant  passer  de  longues  files  de  gens  qui  redisent  nne 
memeiparole.  C'elui  qui  est  eclaire  dune  meilleure  lumicre  comprend  que  I'amour 
n'a  (ju'un  mot,  et  qu'en  le  disant  toujours,  il  ne  repete  jamais.' 


1  A  bishop  is  represented  with  his  crozier  turned  outwards— external  rule  ;  an 
abbot  with  his  crozier  turned  inwards— internal  rule. 


250  Walks  in  Rome 

Grouped  around  this  cliapel  are  three  beautiful  tombs — a  cardinal, 
a  bishop,  and  a  priest  of  the  end  of  the  fifteentli  century.  That  of 
the  cardinal  (which  is  of  the  well-known  Koman  type  of  the  time) 
is  inscribed,  '  Ut  moriens  viveret,  vixit  ut  moriturus  ; '  the  others 
are  incised  slabs.  At  the  other  end  of  this  aisle  is  a  marble  slab, 
on  which  S.  Dominic  is  said  to  have  been  wont  to  lie  prostrate  in 
prayer.  One  day  while  he  was  lying  thus,  the  devil  in  his  rage 
is  said  to  have  hurled  a  huge  stone  (a  round  black  marble,  pietra 
di  parajjom)  at  him,  which  missed  the  saint,  who  left  the  attack 
entirely  unnoticed.  The  devil  was  frantic  with  disappointment, 
and  the  stone,  remaining  as  a  relic,  is  preserved  on  a  low  pillar 
in  the  nave.  A  small  gothic  ciborium,  richly  inlaid  with  mosaic, 
remains  on  the  left  of  the  tribune. 

Opening  from  the  left  aisle  is  a  chapel  built  by  Elic  of  Tuscany, 
very  rich  in  precious  marbles.  The  frame  of  the  panel  on  the  left 
is  said  to  be  unique. 

It  was  in  this  church,  in  1218,  that  the  Polish  cousins  Hyacinthus 
and  Celsus  Odrowaz,  struck  by  the  preaching  of  S.  Dominic,  and  by 
the  recollection  of  the  barbarism,  heathenism,  and  ignorance  which 
prevailed  in  many  parts  of  their  native  land  of  Silesia,  offered 
themselves  as  missionaries,  and  took  the  vows  of  the  Dominican 
Order,  becoming  the  apostles  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia.  Hither 
fled  to  the  monastic  life  S.  Thomas  Aquinas,  pursued  to  the  very 
door  of  the  convent  by  the  tears  and  outcries  of  his  mother,  who 
vainly  implored  him  to  return  to  her.  One  evening,  a  pilgrim,  worn 
out  with  travel  and  fatigue,  arrived  at  the  door  of  this  convent, 
mounted  upon  a  wretched  mule,  and  implored  admittance.  The 
prior  in  mockery  asked,  '  What  are  you  come  for,  my  father  1  are 
you  come  to  see  if  the  college  of  cardinals  is  disposed  to  elect  you 
as  pope  ? '  'I  come  to  Rome,'  replied  the  pilgrim  Michele  Ghislieri, 
'  because  the  interests  of  the  Church  require  it,  and  I  shall  leave  as 
soon  as  my  task  is  accomplished  ;  meanwhile  I  implore  you  to  give 
me  a  brief  hospitality  and  a  little  hay  for  my  mule.'  Sixteen  years 
afterwards  Ghislieri  mounted  the  papal  throne  as  Pius  V.,  and 
proved,  during  a  troubled  reign,  the  most  rigid  follower  and  eager 
defender  of  the  institutions  of  S.  Dominic.  One  day,  as  Ghislieri 
was  about  to  kiss  his  crucifix  in  the  eagerness  of  prayer,  the  imacre 
of  Christ,  says  the  legend,  retired  of  its  own  accord  from  his  touch, 
for  it  had  been  poisoned  by  an  enemy,  and  a  kiss  would  have  been 
death.  This  crucifix  is  now  preserved  as  a  precious  relic  in  the 
convent,  where  the  cells  both  of  S.  Dominic  and  of  S.  Pius  V.  are 
preserved  ;  though,  like  most  historical  chambers  of  Roman  saints, 
their  interest  is  lessened  by  their  having  been  beautified  and 
changed  into  chapels.  In  the  cell  of  S.  Dominic  part  of  the  ancient 
timber  ceiling  remains.  Here  is  the  beautiful  portrait  of  the  saint 
by  Bazzani,  founded  on  the  records  of  his  personal  appearance  ;  the 
lily  lies  by  his  side — the  glory  hovers  over  his  head — he  is,  as  the 
chronicler  describes  him,  'of  amazing  beauty."  In  this  cell  he  is 
said  frequently  to  have  passed  the  night  in  prayer  with  his  rival 


S.  Alessio  251 

S.  Francis  of  Assisi.     The  refectory  is  connected  with  another  story 
of  S.  Dominic  : — 

'It  happened  that  when  he  was  residing  with  forty  of  liis  friars  in  the  convent 
of  S.  Saliina  at  Rome,  tlie  brotliers  who  had  been  sent  to  lieg  for  provisions  had 
returned  with  a  very  small  quantity  of  bread,  and  they  knew  not  what  they  should 
do,  for  night  was  at  hand,  and  they  had  not  eaten  ail  day.  Then  S.  Dominic 
ordered  that  they  should  seat  themselves  in  the  refectory,  and,  taking  his  place  at 
the  head  of  the  table,  he  pronounced  the  usual  blessing  ;  and  behold  !  two  beau- 
tiful youths  clad  in  white  and  shining  garments  appeared  amongst  thein— one 
carried  a  liasket  of  bread,  and  the  other  a  pitcher  of  w  ine,  which  tlicy  distrilnited 
to  the  brethren  ;  then  they  disappeared,  and  no  one  knew  how  they  had  come  in, 
nor  how  they  had  gone  out.  And  the  lirethren  sat  in  amazement ;  but  S.  Dominic 
stretched  forth  his  hand,  and  said  calmly,  "  My  children,  eat  what  God  has  sent 
you  ;'■  and  it  was  truly  celestial  food,  such  as  they  never  tasted  before  nor  since.' 
— Jameson's  'Monastic  Orders,'  p.  369, 

Other  saints  who  sojourned  for  a  time  in  this  convent  were 
S.  Norbert,  founder  of  tlie  Premonstratensians  (ob.  1134),  and 
S.  Raymond  de  Penaforte  (ob,  1275),  who  left  his  labours  in  Barce- 
lona for  a  time  in  1280  to  act  as  chaplain  to  Gregory  IX. 

In  1287  a  conclave  was  held  at  S.  Sabina  for  the  election  of  a 
successor  to  Pope  Martin  IV.,  but  was  broken  up  by  the  malaria, 
six  cardinals  dying  at  once  within  the  convent,  and  all  the  rest 
taking  flight,  except  Cardinal  Savelli,  who  would  not  desert  his 
paternal  home,  and  survived  by  keeping  large  fires  constantly  burn- 
ing in  his  chamber.  Ten  months  afterwards  his  perseverance  was 
rewarded  by  his  own  election  to  the  throne  as  Honorius  IV. 

In  the  garden  of  the  convent  are  some  small  remains  of  the  palace 
of  the  great  Savelli  Pope,  Honorius  III.  Here,  on  the  declivity  of 
the  Aventine,  many  important  excavations  were  made  in  1856-57 
by  the  French  Prior  Besson,  a  person  of  great  intelligence  ;  and  he 
was  rewarded  by  the  discovery  of  some  fine  fragments  of  the  wall 
of  Servius  Tullius,  formed  of  gigantic  blocks  of  peperino,  and  an 
ancient  Roman  house,  its  chambers  paved  with  black  and  white 
mosaic.  In  the  chambers,  which  were  found  decorated  in  stucco 
with  remnants  of  painting  in  figures  and  arabesque  ornaments, '  one 
little  group  represented  a  sacrifice  before  the  statue  of  a  god,  in  an 
aedicula.  Some  rudely  scratched  Latin  lines  on  this  surface  led  to 
the  inference  that  this  chamber,  after  becoming  subterranean  and 
otherwise  uninhabitable,  had  served  for  a  prison  ;  one  unfortunate 
inmate  having  inscribed  curses  against  those  who  caused  his  loss  of 
liberty ;  and  another,  more  devout,  left  record  of  his  vow  to  sacrifice 
to  Bacchus  in  case  of  recovering  that  blessing.'  ^ 

Since  the  death  of  Prior  Besson  the  works  have  been  abandoned, 
and  the  remains  already  discovered  have  been  for  the  most  part 
earthed  up  again.  A  nympheum,  a  well,  and  several  subterranean 
passages  are  still  visible  on  the  hillside. 

The  Mirabilia  mention  an  Arch  of  Faustinus  as  existing  near 
S.  Sabina  in  the  twelfth  century. 

Just  beyond  S.  Sabina  is  the  Hieronymite  Church  and  Convent  of 

'   Hemans'  '  Monuments  in  Hume.' 


252  Walks  in  Eome 

S.  Alessio.  tlie  only  monastery  of  Hieronymites  in  Italy  where  meat 
was  allowed  to  be  eaten — in  consideraticjii  of  the  malaria.  The  first 
church  erected  lure  was  built  in  A.D.  ;!()5  in  honour  of  S.  Boniface, 
martyr,  by  Aglae,  a  noble  Roman  lady,  whose  servant  (and  lover)  he 
had  been.  It  was  reconsecrated  in  A.  u.  401  by  Innocent  I.  in  honour 
of  S.  Alexis,  whose  paternal  mansion  was  on  this  site.  This  saint, 
young  and  beautiful,  took  a  vow  of  virginity,  and  being  forced  by 
his  parent.s  into  marriage,  (led  on  the  same  evening  from  his  home, 
and  was  given  up  as  lost.  Worn  out  and  utterly  changed,  he  re- 
turned many  years  afterwards  to  be  near  those  who  were  dear  to 
him,  and  remained,  unrecognised,  as  a  poor  beggar,  under  the  stairs 
whiob  led  to  his  father's  house.  Seventeen  years  passed  away, 
when  a  mysterious  voice  suddenly  resounded  through  the  Roman 
churches,  crying,  '  Seek  ye  out  the  man  of  God,  that  he  may  pray 
for  Rome.'  The  crowd  was  stricken  with  amazement,  when  the 
same  voice  continued,  'Setk  in  the  house  of  Euphemian.'  Then, 
Pope,  emperor,  and  senators  rushed  together  to  the  Aventine,  where 
they  found  the  despised  beggar  dying  beneath  the  doorstep,  his 
countenance  beaming  with  celestial  light,  a  crucifix  in  one  hand 
and  a  sealed  paper  in  the  other.  The  people  vainly  strove  to  draw 
the  paper  from  the  fingers  which  were  closing  in  the  gripe  of  death  ; 
but  when  Innocent  I.  bade  the  dying  man  in  God's  name  to  give 
it  up,  they  opened,  and  the  Pope  read  aloud  to  the  astonished 
multitude  the  secret  of  Alexis,  and  his  father  Euphemian  and  his 
widowed  bride  regained  in  death  the  son  and  the  husband  they 
had  lost. 

'  Then,  lest  some  secular  use  might  mar  the  place 
.Made  sacred  hy  his  pain,  upon  the  trround 
Wliere  stodd  tliat  .stately  house  they  reared  the  church 
Of  S.  Alexis,  and  the  marble  stairs 
Which  sheltered  him  they  left  as  when  he  died. 
And  there  a  sculptor  carved  him,  in  mean  garb, 
Reclininfr,  by  liis  side  his  pilgrim's  staff. 
And  in  his  hand  the  story  of  his  life. 
Of  virgin  ijureness  and  humility.' — Lewis  Morris. 

S.  Alessio  is  entered  through  a  courtyard. 

'  The  courtyards  in  front  of  S.  Alessio,  S.  Cecilia,  .S.  Gregorio,  and  other  churches, 
are  like  the  vestilmla  of  the  ancient  Roman  houses,  on  the  site  of  which  they  were 
probably  built.  This  style  of  building,  says  Tacitus,  was  generally  introduced  by 
Xero.  Bpyond  opened  the  prothi/ra,  or  inner  entrance,  with  the  cellae  for  the 
porter  and  dog,  both  chained,  on  either  side.' 

In  the  portico  of  the  church  is  a  statue  of  Benedict  XIII.  (Pietro 
Orsini.  1724).  The  west  door  has  a  rich  border  of  mosaic.  The 
church  has  been  so  shamelessly  modernised  by  Tommaso  de  Marchi.s, 
in  1750,  as  to  retain  no  appearance  of  antiquity.  The  fine  opiis- 
alexandrinum  pavement  is  preserved.  In  the  floor  is  the  incised 
gothic  monument  of  Lupo  di  Olmeto,  general  of  the  Hieronymites 
(ob.  143.'5).  Left  of  the  entrance  is  a  shrine  of  S.  Alessio,  with  his 
figure  sleeping  under  the  staircase — part  of  the  actual  wooden  stair 
being  enclosed  in  a  glass  case  over  his  head.     Not  far  from  this  is 


The  Priorato  253 

the  ancient  well  of  his  father's  house.  In  a  chapel  whic'li  opens  out 
of  a  passage  leading  to  a  sacristy  is  the  fine  tomb  of  Cardinal  Guido 
di  Balneo  of  the  time  of  Leo  X.  He  is  represented  sitting,  with  one 
hand  resting  on  the  ground — the  delicate  execution  of  his  lace  in 
marble  is  much  admired.  The  mosaic  roof  of  this  chapel  was  burst 
open  by  a  cannon-ball  during  the  French  bombardment  of  1849,  but 
the  figure  was  uninjured.  The  baldacchino  is  remarkable  for  its 
perfect  proportions.  Behind,  in  the  tribune,  are  the  inlaid  mosaic 
pillars  of  a  gothic  tabernacle  by  Jacobus  Cosmati.  No  one  should 
omit  to  descend  into  the  Crypt  of  S.  Alessio,  which  is  an  early 
church,  supported  on  stunted  pillars,  and  containing  a  marble 
episcopal  chair,  green  with  age.  Here  tradition  asserts  that 
the  Pope  used  to  meet  the  early  conclaves  of  the  Church  in 
times  of  persecution.  The  pillar  under  the  altar  is  shown  as 
that  to  which  S.  Sebastian  was  bound  when  he  was  shot  with  the 
arrows. 

The  convent  is  now  appropriated  as  a  blind  asylum.  The  cloister 
blooms  with  orange  and  lemon  trees.  At  one  time  the  building  was 
purchased  by  the  ex-King  Ferdinand  of  Spain,  who  intended  turning 
it  into  a  villa  for  himself.  The  famous  Crescenzio,  son  of  Theodora, 
the  murderer  of  Popes  John  X.  and  Benedict  VI.,  died  peacefully 
in  the  monastery  of  S.  Alessio  in  984.  His  tomb  remains  in  the 
cloisters,  inscribed,  'Here  lies  the  body  of  Crescentius,  the  illus- 
trious, the  honourable  citizen  of  Rome,  the  great  leader,  the  great 
descendant  of  a  great  family.  .  .  .  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  our  souls, 
made  him  infirm  and  an  invalid,  so  that,  abandoning  any  further 
hope  of  worldly  success,  he  entered  this  monastery,  and  spent  his 
last  years  in  prayer  and  retirement.'  ^ 

A  short  distance  beyond  S.  Alessio  is  a  sort  of  little  square, 
adorned  with  trophied  memorials  of  the  Knights  of  Malta,  and 
occupying  the  site  of  the  laurel  grove  (Armilustrum)  which  con- 
tained the  tomb  of  Tatius.  Here  is  the  entrance  of  the  Priorato 
garden,  where  is  the  famous  View  of  S.  Peter's  through  the 
keyhole,  admired  by  crowds  of  people  on  Ash-Wednesday,  when 
the  '  stazione  '  is  held  at  the  neighbouring  churches.  Entering  the 
garden  (which  belongs  to  the  Knights,  and  to  which  visitors  are 
now  only  admitted  on  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays)  we  find  ourselves 
in  a  beautiful  avenue  of  old  bay-trees  framing  the  distant  S.  Peter's. 
A  terrace  overhanging  the  Tiber  has  an  enchanting  view  over  the 
river  and  town.  In  the  garden  is  an  old  pepper-tree,  and  in  a  little 
court  a  picturesque  palm-tree  and  well.  From  hence  we  can  enter 
the  church,  sometimes  called  S.  Basilic,  sometimes  S.  Maria  Aven- 
tina,  an  ancient  building  modernised  by  Cardinal  Rezzonico  in 
1765,  from  the  ignorant  and  atrocious  designs  of  the  archaeologist 
Piranesi,  to  whose  memory  a  statue  has  been  erected  here.  The 
church  contains  an  interesting  collection  of  tombs,  most  of  them 
belonging  to  the  Knights  of  Malta ;  that  of  Bishop  Spinelli  is  an 
ancient  marble   sarcophagus,  with  a  relief  of  Minerva  and   the 


1  See  Lanciani. 


254  Walks  in  Rome 

Muses  ;  that  of  15artulomnieo  Caraffa— a  knight  in  armour — cham- 
berlain to  Innocent  VII.,  is  by  the  rare  fifteenth-century  sculptor 
Paolo  Romano.  A  richly  sculptured  ancient  altar  contains  relics  of 
saints  found  beneath  the  pavement  of  the  church.  In  an  upper  hall, 
heads  from  the  full-lensfth  portraits  at  Malta  of  the  seventy-four 
Grand  Masters  have  recently  been  arranged. 

The  Priorato  garden,  so  beautiful  and  attractive  in  itself,  has 
an  additional  interest  as  that  in  wliich  the  famous  Hildebrand 
(Gregory  VII.,  1071^-80)  was  brought  up  as  a  boy,  under  the  care 
of  his  "uncle,  who  was  abbot  of  the  adjoining  monastery.  A 
massive  cornice  in  these  grounds  is  one  of  the  few  architectural 
fragments  of  ancient  Rome  existing  on  the  Aventine.  It  may 
perhaps  have  belonged  to  the  smaller  temple  of  Diana  in  which 
Caius  Gracchus  took  refuge,  and  in  escaping  from  which,  down  the 
steep  hillside,  ho  sprained  his  ankle,  and  so  was  taken  by  his 
pursuers.  Some  buried  houses  were  discovered  and  some  precious 
vases  brought  to  light  when  Urban  VIII.  built  the  stately  buttress 
walls  which  now  support  the  hillside  beyond  the  Priorato. 

The  cliff  below  these  convents  is  the  supposed  site  of  the  cave  of 
the  giant  Cacus,  described  by  Virgil  :— 

'  Atspecus  et  Caci  detecta  apparuit  ingeiis 
Regia,  et  umbrosae  peuitiis  patnere  cavernae  : 
Non  secus  ac  si  (jua  penitus  vi  terra  dehiscens 
Infernas  reseret  secies  et  regna  recludat 
Pallida,  dis  invisa,  superqiie  imniaiie  liarathmm 
Cernatur,  trepidentque  imniisso  luniine  manes.' 

— Aenekl,  viii.  241. 

Hercules  brought  the  oxen  of  Geryon  to  pasture  in  the  valley 
between  the  Aventine  and  Palatine.  Cacus,  issuing  from  his  cave 
while  their  owner  was  asleep,  carried  off  four  of  the  bulls,  dragging 
them  up  the  steep  side  of  the  hill  by  their  tails,  that  Hercules 
might  be  deceived  by  their  footprints  being  reversed.  Then  he' 
concealed  them  in  his  cavern  and  barred  the  entrance  with  a  rock. 
Hercules  sought  the  stolen  oxen  everywhere,  and  when  he  could 
not  find  them  he  was  going  away  with  the  remainder.  But  as  he 
drove  them  along  the  valley  near  the  Tiber,  one  of  his  oxen  lowed, 
and  when  the  stolen  oxen  in  the  cave  heard  that,  they  answered  ; 
and  Hercules,  after  rushing  three  times  round  the  Aventine  boiling 
with  fury,  shattered  the  stone  which  guarded  the  entrance  of  the 
cave  with  a  mass  of  rock,  and,  though  the  giant  vomited  forth 
smoke  and  flames  against  him,  he  strangled  him  in  his  arms.  Thus 
runs  the  legend,  which  is  explained  by  Ampere  : — 

'  Cacus  habite  una  caverne  de  I'Aventin,  montagne  en  tout  temps  mal  famee, 
montagne  anciennement  herissee  de  rochers  et  couverte  de  forets,  dont  la  foret 
Naevia,  longtcnips  elle-meme  un  repairc  de  bandits,  etait  une  dependance  et  fut 
un  reste  qui  subsista  dans  les  temps  historiques.  Ce  Cacus  etait  sans  doute  un 
brigand  celebre,  daiigereux  pour  les  patres  du  voisinage,  dont  il  volait  les  trou- 
peau.v  quand  ils  allaient  paitre  dans  les  pres  situes  au  bord  du  Tibre  et  boire 
lean  du  fleuvc.  Les  hauls  fails  de  Cacus  lui  avaient  donne  cetle  celebrity  qui, 
parmi  les  paysans  romains  s'atlache  encore  a  ses  pareils.  et  surtout  le  stratageme 
employe  par  lui  probablemenl  plus  dune  fois  pour  dOrouter  les  bouviers  des 


S.  Prisca  255 

environs,  en  emmenant  les  animaux  qu'il  litroliait,  de  manibie  :i  I'acher  la  direc- 
tion de  leurs  pas.  La  caverne  du  bandit  avait  ute  deeouverle  et  forcee  par 
quelque  patre  courageux,  qui  y  avait  penetre  vaillaninient,  nialKre  la  terreur  qne 
ce  lieu  souterrain  et  forniidaljle  inspirait,  y  avait  surpris  le  voleur  et  I'avait 
litrangle. 

'  Tel  etait,  je  crois,  le  recit  priniitif  oii  il  n'etait  pas  plus  (juestion  d'Hercule 
que  de  Vulcain,  et  dans  lequel  Cacus  n'etait  pas  mis  il  mort  par  un  demidieu, 
niais  par  un  certain  Itecaranus,  patre  vii^oureux  et  de  grande  taille.  A  ces  rccits 
de  bergers,  qui  allaient  toujours  exagerant  les  horreurs  de  I'antre  de  Cacus  et  a 
resistance  desesperee  de  celui-ci,  vinrent  se  meler  peu  a  pen  des  circonstances 
merveilleuses." — Hut.  Rom.  i.  170. 

Beyond  the  Priorato  a  huge  modern  Benedictine  Convent  has 
arisen,  1892-96,  under  the  care  of  Leo  XIII.,  intended  for  Bene- 
dictine scholars  coming  to  study  at  Rome.  At  the  angle  of  the 
hill  is  the  fine  bastion  erected  for  its  defence  by  Antonio  da 
Sangallo. 

We  must  retrace  our  steps  as  far  as  the  summit  of  the  hill 
towards  the  Palatine,  and  then  turn  to  the  right  in  order  to  reach 
the  ugly,  obscure-looking  Church  of  S.  Prisca — Titulus  Priscae — 
founded  by  Pope  Eutychianus  in  a.d.  280,  close  to  the  site  of  the 
house  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  with  whom  S.  Peter  lodged  when  he 
was  at  Rome,  but  entirely  modernised  by  Cardinal  Giustiniani  from 
designs  of  Carlo  Lombard!,  who  encased  its  fine  granite  columns 
in  miserable  stucco  pilasters.  Over  the  high  altar  is  a  picture  by 
Passignano  of  the  baptism  of  the  saint,  which  is  said  to  have  taken 
place  in  the  ancient  and  very  picturesque  crypt  beneath  the  church, 
where  an  inverted  corinthian  capital — a  relic  of  the  temple  of 
Diana  which  once  occupied  this  site — is  shown  as  the  font  in 
which  S.  Prisca  was  baptized  by  S.  Peter.  The  oratory — ecclesiam 
domcsticam — which  Aquila  and  Priscilla  opened  in  their  house,  one 
of  the  first  opened  for  worship  in  Rome,  was  discovered  in  177(5 
close  to  the  church,  and  may  perhaps  exist  still  underground 
undiscovered.  A  tablet  found  in  177G  shows  that  in  222  the  house 
of  Aquila  and  Priscilla  belonged  to  one  Gains  Marius  Pudens  Cor- 
nelianus,  showing  that  the  connection  formed  between  the  two 
families  in  the  time  of  the  apostles  was  still  continued. 

Opening  from  the  right  aisle  was  a  kind  of  terraced  loggia,  now 
fallen  into  ruin,  with  a  peculiar  and  beautiful  view.  In  the  adjoin- 
ing vineyard  are  three  arches  of  an  aqueduct. 

'  The  altar-piece  of  the  church  represents  the  baptism  of  S.  Prisca,  whose 
remains  being  afterwards  placed  in  the  church,  it  has  since  borne  her  name. 
According  to  the  legend,  she  was  a  Koman  virgin  of  illustrious  birth,  who,  at 
the  age  of  thirteen,  was  exposed  in  the  amphitheatre.  A  tierce  lion  was  let 
loose  upon  her,  but  her  youth  and  innocence  disarmed  the  fury  of  the  savage 
beast,  which,  instead  of  tearing  her  to  pieces,  humbly  licked  her  feet,  to  the 
great  consolation  of  Christians  and  the  confusion  of  idolaters.  Being  led  back 
to  prison,  she  was  there  beheaded.  Sometimes  she  Is  represented  with  a  lion, 
sometimes  with  an  eagle,  because  it  is  related  that  an  eagle  watched  by  her 
body  till  it  was  laid  in  the  grave  ;  for  thus,  says  the  story,  was  virgin  innocence 
honoured  by  kingly  bird  as  well  as  by  kingly  beast.'— Jfrs.  Jameson. 

'Aquila  and  Priscilla  are  known  through  the  New  Testament.  "Greet 
Priscilla  and  Aquila,  my  helpers  in  Christ  .Jesus  :  who  have  for  my  life  laid  down 
their  own  necks,  unto  whom  not  only  I  give  thanks,  but  also  all  the  churches 
of  the  Gentiles.    Likewise  greet  the  church  that  is  in  their  house."    So  writes 


256  Walks  in  Rome 

I'aul  in  the  sixteenth  chapter  (if  liis  Epistle  to  the  Romans;  and  this  greeting 
ia  alicatly  ciiontrh  to  give  ns  exalted  ideas  of  the  devotion  of  this  conple  to  the 
faith  lint  onr  respect  for  them  is  fnrther  increased  when  we  recollect  what 
Lnke  tells  ns  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles:  that  ApoUos— one  of  the  most  learned 
ami  el.Minent  amongst  the  tirst  heralds  of  Christianity,  and  the  prohable  author 
of  the  Kpistle  to  the  Uelirews— sat  on  the  disciples'  bench  in  the  house  of  Aquila 
and  I'riscilla,  and  from  them,  l)Ut  especially  from  the  mother  of  the  house, 
received  deeper  instruction  in  the  way  of  salvation  :  "They  expounded  to  him 
the  way  of  God  more  perfectly,  "  says  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

'  We  know  further  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla  that  they  were  working-people— 
that  in  their  house  on  the  Aventine  they  followed  the  trade  of  tent-making,  the 
same  l>y  which  the  Apostle  Paul  also  earned  his  bread.  When  the  Empeior 
Claudius  drove  the  Jews  out  of  Rome,  they  too  had  to  leave  the  city,  for  Aquila 
was  a  .lew,  born  in  Pontus.  They  then  removed  to  Corinth,  where  Paul  became 
their  guest,  and  where,  as  in  Rome,  they  helil  assemblies  at  their  house.  They 
afterwards  established  their  dwelling  at  Ephcsus,  and  remained  there  till  they 
obtained  leave  to  return  to  Rome  and  their  house  on  the  Aventine. 

'If  the  tradition— for  which  a  Latin  inscriiilion  in  the  very  ancient  church  is 
responsible— if  the  tradition  l)e  right,  the  house  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla  was  in 
its  turn  built  on  the  remains  of  a  temple  of  Diana,  and  that  again  upon  the  site 
of  an  altar  to  Hercules,  which  the  Arcadian  king,  Evander,  had  built,  hundreds 
of  years  before  the  time  of  Romulus.  What  a  train  of  memories,  which  carries 
us," though  with  uncertain  steps,  back  into  the  very  night  of  anti(iuity  !  And  as 
the  sun  sinks  and  the  wall  of  S.  Prisca  casts  a  lengthening  shadow,  let  us  linger 
a  moment,  and  dream  in  silence  and  solitude  of  what  the  stories  and  memories 
may  be  with  which  coming  ages  shall  lengthen  out  the  chain  of  those  which 
the  past  has  already  linked  to  this  deserted  and  melancholy  spot.'— Rydbergs 
'  Roman  Dayx. 

'  We  know  from  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles,  that,  in  consequence  of  the  decree 
of  banishment  which  was  issued  against  the  Jews  by  the  Emperor  Claudius, 
Aquila  and  Priscilla  were  compelled  to  leave  Rome  for  a  while,  and  that  on 
their  return  they  were  able  to  open  a  small  oT<itory—ecclesiaiit.  domesticam— in 
their  house.  This  oratory,  one  of  the  first  opened  to  divine  worship  in  Rome— 
these  walls,  which  in  all  probability  have  echoed  with  the  sound  of  S.  Peter's 
voice,  were  discovered  in  1776  close  to  the  modern  church  of  S.  Prisca ;  but  no 
attention  was  paid  to  the  discovery,  in  spite  of  its  unrivalled  importance.  The 
only  memorandum  of  it  is  a  scrap  of  paper  in  Codex  9697  of  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale  in  Paris,  in  which  a  man  named  Carrara  speaks  of  having  found  a 
subterranean  chapel  near  S.  Prisca,  decorated  with  paintings  of  the  fourth 
century,  representing  the  apostles.  A  copy  of  the  frescoes  seems  to  have  been 
made  at  the  time,  but  no  trace  of  it  has  been  found. 

'In  the  same  excavations  of  1770  was  found  a  bronze  tablet,  which  had  been 
offered  to  Gains  JIarius  Pudens  Cornelianus  by  the  people  of  Clunia  (near 
Palencia.  Spain),  as  a  token  of  gratitude  for  the  services  which  he  had  rendered 
them  during  his  governorship  of  the  province  of  Tarragona.  This  taldet,  dated 
April  9,  A.D.  227,  proves  that  the  house  owned  by  Aquila  and  Priscilla  in  apostolic 
times  had  subsequently  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  Cornelius  Pudens  ;  in  other 
words,  that  the  relations  formed  between  the  two  families  during  the  sojourn 
of  the  apostles  in  Rome  had  been  faithfully  maintained  by  their  descendants. 
Their  intimate  connection  is  also  proved  by  the  fact  that  Pudens,  Pudentiana, 
Praxedes,  and  Prisca  were  all  buried  in  the  cemetery  of  Priscilla  on  the  Via 
Salaria.'— LnncinJij". 

'It  is  worth  noting  that  Aquila,  an  eagle,  the  German  AdUr,  was  already  a 
Jewish  name.'— i^.  Marian  Crawford. 

Opposite  the  door  of  this  church  is  the  entrance  of  the  Vigna 
Torlonia,  formerly  Vigna  dei  Gesuiti,  a  wild  and  beautiful  vineyard 
occupying  the  greater  part  of  this  deserted  hill,  and  extending 
as  far  as  the  Porta  S.  Paolo  and  the  pyramid  of  Caius  Cestius. 
Several  farm  buildings  are  scattered  amongst  the  vines  and  fruit 
trees.  The  principal  farm-house  marks  the  site  of  the  Thermae 
Decianae,  built  by  Trajan   and  named   from   the   family   of   the 


S.  Sabba  257 

Caecinae  Decii  Albini,  whose  house  was  near  this.  There  are 
beautiful  views  towards  the  Alban  mountains,  and  to  the  Pseudo- 
Aventine  with  its  fortress-like  convents.  The  ground  is  littered 
with  fragments  of  marbles  and  alabaster,  which  lie  unlieeded 
among  the  vegetables,  relics  of  unknown  edifices  which  once 
existed  here.  The  spot  till  recently  was  beautiful,  and  overgrown 
by  a  luxuriance  of  wild  mignonette  and  other  flowers  in  the  late 
spring.  Here,  where  the  road  (Viale  di  Porta  S.  Paolo),  now  cuts 
the  vineyard,  are  the  finest  existing  remains  of  the  Walls  of  Servius 
TuUius,^  50  feet  high,  and  11  feet  6  inches  wide  ;  formed  of  twenty- 
five  courses  of  large  quadrilateral  blocks  of  tufa,  laid  alternately 
long  and  cross-ways,  as  in  the  Etruscan  buildings.  A  semicircular 
open  arch  and  part  of  another  remain,  and  are  apparently  contem- 
porary with  the  wall.  This  is  the  finest  existing  fragment  of  the 
Wall  of  the  time  of  the  Kings,  which  enclosed  the  seven  hills  of 
early  Rome. 

'Septemque  inia  sibi  nuno  circumdedit  arces.' 

—  Vinjil,  Geonj.  ii.  535. 

There  is  now  a  popular  restaurant  here — Castello  di  Costantino. 
It  occupies  part  of  the  site  of  the  house  of  Licinius  Sura,  a  friend 
of  Trajan,  who  named  in  honour  of  his  friend  the  Thermae  Suranae, 
which  he  built  near  this. 

Descending  to  the  valley  beneath  S.  Prisca,  we  cross  the  new  road 
which  leads  from  the  Via  Appia  to  the  Porta  S.  Paolo. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  Pseudo  or  smaller  Aventine  is  the 
Church  of  S.  Sabba,  which  is  supposed  to  mark  the  site  of  the  Porta 
Rudusculana  of  the  walls  of  Servius  Tullius.  Its  position  is  very 
striking,  and  its  portico,  built  in  A.D.  1200,  is  picturesque  and 
curious.  S.  Sabba  now  belongs  to  the  German  College,  and  is  pro- 
bably open  on  Thursday  afternoons. 

This  church  is  of  unknown  origin,  but  is  known  to  have  existed 
in  the  time  of  S.  Gregory  the  Great,  and  to  have  been  one  of 
the  fourteen  privileged  abbacies  of  Rome.  Its  patron  saint  was 
S.  Sabbas,  an  abbot  of  Cappadocia,  who  died  at  Jerusalem  in 
A.D.  532.  Many  remains  of  the  Statio  of  the  Fourth  Battalion  of 
Vigiles  are  built  into  its  walls. 

'  The  record  of  the  artist  Jacobus  dei  Cosniati,  dated  the  thh-d  year  of 
Innocent  III.  (1205),  on  the  lintel  of  the  mosaic-inlaid  doorway,  justifies  us  in 
classing  this  church  among  monuments  of  the  thirteenth  century.  From  its 
origin  a  Greek  monastery,  it  was  assigned  by  Lucius  II.,  in  1141,  to  the  Bene- 
dictines of  the  Cluny  rule.  An  epigraph  near  the  sacristy  mentions  a  rebuilding 
either  of  the  cloisters  or  church  in  1325  l)y  an  abbot  Joannes  ;  and  in  1465  the 
roof  was  renewed  in  woodwork  by  a  cardinal,  the  nephew  of  Pius  II. 

'In  1512  the  Cistercians  of  Clairvaux  were  located  here  by  Julius  II.  ;  and 
some  years  later  these  buildings  were  given  to  the  Germanic-Hungarian  College. 
Amidst  gardens  and  vineyards,  approached  by  a  solitary  lane  between  hedge- 
rows, this  now  deserted  sanctuaiy  has  a  certain  affecting  character  in  its  for- 
lornness.  Save  on  Thursdays,  when  the  German  students  are  brought  hither 
by  their  Jesuit  professors  to  enliven  the  solitude  by  their  sports  and  converse, 

1  Some  antiquaries  attribute  them  to  the  wall  of  the  Aventine,  built  by  Ancus 
Martius. 

VOL.  I.  R 


258  Walks  in  Rome 

we  iiUK'ht  never  succeed  in  finding  entrance  to  this  quiet  retreat  of  the  monks 

■Wi'tliin  the  arched  porch,  tliroujrli  whicli  we  pass  into  an  outer  court,  we 
lead  an  ins.ription  telliuR  that  liere  stood  the  house  and  oratory  (called  the 
.•flln  nova)  of  S.  Sylvia,  mother  of  S.  (IrcRory  the  Great,  whence  the  pious  matron 
used  daily  to  send  a  porridj;e  of  leirunies  to  her  son  while  he  inhabited  his 
monastery  on  the  Clivus  Scauri,  or  northern  asc-ent  of  the  Coelian.  Within  that 
court  formerly  stood  the  cloistral  buildings,  of  which  little  now  remains.  The 
facade  is  remarkable  for  its  atrium  in  two  storeys  :  the  upper  with  a  pillared 
arcade  probably  of  the  fifteenth  century  ;  the  lower  formerly  supported  by  six 
porphyry  columns,  removed  by  Pius  VI.  to  adorn  the  Vatican  library,  where  they 
still  stand.  The  porphyry  statuettes  of  two  emperors  embracing,  supposed 
either  an  emblem  of  the  concord  between  the  East  and  West,  or  the  intended 
portraits  of  the  co-reigning  Constantine  II.  and  C'onstans— a  curious  example 
of  sculpture  in  its  deep  decline,  and  probably  imported  by  Greek  monks  from 
Constantinople  — project  from  two  of  those  ancient  columns.' i  — //e?>ia7i« 
'  Mediaeval  Art.' 

The  interior  of  S.  Sabba  is  in  the  basilica  form.  It  retains  some 
fragments  of  inlaid  paveme.ns,  some  handsome  inlaid  marble  panels 
on  either  side  of  the  high  altar,  and  an  ancient  sarcophagus.  The 
tribune  has  rude  paintings  of  the  fourteenth  century,  bearing  the 
name  of  the  donor,  one  .Saba— the  Saviour  between  S.  Andrew  and 
8.  Sabbas  the  Abbot ;  and  below,  the  Crucifixion,  the  Madonna, 
and  the  twelve  Apostles.  Beneath  the  tribune  is  a  crypt,  and 
over  its  altar  a  beautifully, ornamented  disk  with  a  Greek  cross  in 
the  centre.  A  great  sepulchral  stone  is  said  to  have  been  formerly 
preserved  in  the  portico,  with  an  inscription  beginning,  '  Conditur 
hie  tiimulo  Titus  cum  Vespasiano.' 

Behind  S.  Sabba  is  another  delightful  vineyard,  but  it  is  diflBcult 
to  gain  admittance.  Here  Flaminius  Vacca  describes  the  discovery 
of  a  mysterious  chamber  without  door  or  window,  vi^hose  pavement 
was  of  agate  and  cornelian,  and  whose  walls  were  plated  with  gilt 
copper  ;  but  of  this  nothing  remains.- 

The  headquarters  of  the  fourth  statio  of  the  ancient  fire-brigade 
was  near  S.  Sabba.  A  pedestal  of  205  has  been  found  here,  with 
an  inscription  authorising  Junius  Rufinus,  prefect  of  the  Vigiles, 
to  puni.sh  with  a  rod  or  cat-of -nine-tails  {fuslibus  vel  flagellis)  the 
janitor  or  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  house  in  which  a  fire  had 
broken  out  through  neglect. 

To  reach  the  remaining  church  of  the  Aventine,  we  have  to  turn 
to  the  Via  Appia,  and  then  follow  the  lane  which  leads  up  the  hill- 
side near  the  Baths  of  Caracalla  to  the  Church  of  S.  Balbina,  whose 
picturesque  red-brick  tower  forms  so  conspicuous  a  feature,  as  seen 
against  the  long  soft  lines  of  the  flat  Campagna,  in  so  many  Roman 
views.  Latterly,  however,  the  efi'ect  of  tliis  attractive  building — 
a  unique  mediaeval  fortified  monastery — has  been  greatly  injured 
by  a  square  white  edifice  erected  around  it.  The  church  stands  on 
the  site  of  the  Domus  Cilonis,  given  by  Septimius  Severus  in  204 
to  his  intimate  friend  Lucius  Fabius  Cilo,  consul  and  prefect  of 
the   city.     Some   reticulated   work,    used  for   foundations   of   the 


1  Similar  figures  exist  near  one  of  the  corners  of  the  Ducal  Palace  at  Venice. 

2  Hemans'  '  Story  of  Monuments  in  Rome,'  ii.  228. 


Church  of  S.  Balbina  259 

monasteiT,  belonged  to  the  villa.  The  Servian  Wall,  which  crosses 
the  site,  can  also  be  seen  in  the  garden  and  refectory.  The  church 
was  erected  in  memory  of  S.  Balbina,  a  virgin  martyr  (buried  in  S. 
Maria  in  Domenica),  daughter  of  the  prefect  Quirinus,  who  suffered 
under  Hadrian,  a.d.  1;>2.  It  contains  the  remains  of  an  altar  erected 
by  Cardinal  Barbo  in  the  old  basilica  of  S.  Peter's,  a  splendid  ancient 
throne  of  marble  inlaid  with  mosaics,  and  a  fine  tomb,  by  Giovanni 
Cosmati,  of  the  papal  chamberlain,  Stefano  Sordi,  supporting  a 
recumbent  figure,  and  adorned  with  mosaics. 

Here  the  Mirahilia  says  that  Constantine  and  Sylvester  '  kissed 
and  parted  one  from  the  other '  after  the  interview  in  which  the 
emperor  is  supposed  to  have  surrendered  Rome  and  the  supremacy 
of  the  Western  Empire  to  the  Pope. 

Adjoining  this  church,  Monsignor  de  Merode,  in  the  time  of 
Piux  IX.,  established  a  house  of  correction  for  youthful  ofi'enders, 
to  avert  the  moral  result  of  exposing  them  to  communication  with 
other  prisoners. 


CHAPTEK    IX 
THE  VIA  APPIA 

The  Porta  Capen.i— 15;itlis  of  Caracalla— SS.  Nereo  eil  Achilleo— SS.  Sisto  e 
Doineiiico— S.  Cesareo  (S.  (iiovanni  in  (»leo— S.  (Jiovaiini  in  Porta  Latina) 
—Columbarium  of  the  Freedmen  of  Oftavia— Tonil)  of  tlie  Soipios— Colum- 
barium of  the  Viijna  Coiiini— Arch  of  Driisus— Porta  S.  Seliastiano— Tombs 
of  Geta  and  Priscilla— Churc;:  of  IJoniine  Quo  Vadis  (Vij;na  Marancia)— 
Catacombs  of  S.  Calixtus,  of  S.  Pretextatus,  of  the  Jews,  and  SS.  Nereo  ed 
Achilleo~(Temple  of  Bacchus,  i.e.  S.  I'rbano— Grotto  of  Kgeria— Temple 
of  Uivus  Kediculus)— Basilica  and  Catacoml)s  of  8.  Sebastiano — Circus  of 
Maxentius— 'I'eniple  of  Romulus,  son  of  Maxentius— Toml)  of  Cecilia  Metella 
—Castle  of  the  Cactani-'i'onilis  of  the  Via  Appia— S.  Maria  Nuova— Roma 
Vecchia— Casale  Rotondo— Tor  di  Selce,  ikc. 

^PHE  Via  Appia,  called  Regina  Viarum  by  Statins,  was  begun 
I  B.C.  :?12,  by  the  Censor  Appiu.s  Claudius  the  Blind,  'the  most 
illustrious  of  the  great  Sabine  and  Patrician  race,  of  whom  he  was 
the  most  remarkable  representative.'  It  was  paved  throughout,  and 
during  the  first  part  of  its  course  served  as  a  kind  of  patrician 
cemetery,  being  bordered  by  a  magnificent  avenue  of  family  tombs. 
It  began  at  the  Porta  Capena,  itself  crossed  by  the  Appian  aqueduct, 
which  was  due  to  the  same  great  benefactor — 

'  Sul)stitit  ad  veteres  arcus  niadidanKjue  Capeuam  ' — 

and  was  carried  by  Claudius  across  the  Pontine  Marshes  as  far  as 
Capua,  but  afterwards  extended  to  Brundusium.  Up  to  442  A.U.C. 
the  drain-polluted  waters  of  the  Tiber  had  been  drunk  by  the  whole 
population. 

The  site  of  the  Porta  Capena,  so  important  as  marking  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Appian  Way,  was  long  a  disputed  subject.  The 
Roman  antiquaries  maintained  that  it  was  outside  the  present  Walls, 
basing  their  opinion  on  the  statement  of  S.  Gregory,  that  the  river 
Almo  was  in  that  Regio,  and  considering  the  Almo  identical  with  a 
small  stream  which  is  crossed  in  the  hollow  about  half  a  mile  beyond 
the  Porta  S.  Sebastiano,  and  which  passes  through  the  Valle  Cafifa- 
relle,  and  falls  into  the  Tiber  near  S.  Paolo.  This  stream,  however, 
which  rises  at  the  foot  of  the  Alban  Hills  below  the  lake,  divides 
into  two  jiarts  about  six  miles  from  Rome,  and  its  smaller  division, 
after  flowing  close  to  the  Porta  San  Giovanni,  recedes  again  into  the 
country,  enters  Rome  near  the  Porta  Metronla,  a  little  behind  the 
Church  of  S.  Sisto,  and  pas.sing  through  the  Circus  Maximus,  falls  into 
the  Tiber  at  thePulchrum  Littus,  below  the  so-called  Temple  of  Vesta. 

260 


The  Porta  Capena  261 

Close  to  the  point  where  this,  the  smaller  branch  of  the  Aluio, 
crosses  the  Via  San  Sebastiano,  Mr.  J.  PI.  Parker,  in  1868-()9,  exca- 
vating in  accordance  witli  his  measurements,  discovered  some 
remains,  on  the  original  line  of  walls,  which  he  identified  beyond 
doubt  as  those  of  the  Porta  Capena,  whose  position  had  been  already 
proved  by  Ampere  and  other  authorities.  Pius  IX.  came  to  see 
the  discoveries,  and  exclaiminej,  '  The  heretic's  right,'  complained 
bitterly  that  his  own  archaeologists,  whom  he  paid  very  highly, 
should  have  failed  to  find  what  was  discovered  by  a  stranger. 

Close  to  the  Porta  Capena  stood  a  large  group  of  historical  build- 
ings of  which  no  trace  remains.  On  the  right  of  the  gate  was  the 
Temple  of  Mars  : — 

'  Lux  eadem  Marti  festa  est ;   queni  prospicit  extra 
Apposituni  tectae  porta  Capena  viae.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  vi.  191. 

It  is  probably  in  allusion  to  this  temple  that  Propertius  says  : — 

'  Armaque  quum  tulcro  portae  votiva  Capenae, 
Sul)seribani,  salvo  grata  puella  viro.' 

—Prop.  iv.  Eleg.  3. 

Martial  alludes  to  a  little  temple  of  Hercules  near  this  : — 

'  Capena  grandi  porta  qua  pluit  gutta, 
Phrygiaeque  matris  Alino  qua  lavat  ferrum, 
Horatioruni  ((ua  viret  sacer  campus, 
Et  qua  pusilli  fervet  Herculis  fanuni." 

— Mart.  Ep.  Hi.  47. 

Near  the  gate  also  stood  the  tomb  of  the  murdered  sister  of  the 
Horatii,!  with  the  temples  of  Honour  and  Virtue,  vowed  by  Mar- 
cellus  and  dedicated  by  his  son,-  and  a  fountain  dedicated  to 
Mercury  : — 

'  Est  aqua  Mercurii  portae  vicina  Capenae  ; 
Si  juvat  expertis  credere,  niinien  habet. 
Hue  venit  incinctus  tunica  mercator,  et  urna 

Purus  sufflta,  quam  ferat,  haurit  aquam. 
Uda  fit  hinc  laurus  :  lauro  sparguntur  ab  uda 
Omnia,  quae  dominos  sunt  habitura  novos.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  v.  673. 

It  was  at  the  Porta  Capena  that  the  survivor  of  the  Horatii  met 
his  sister. 

'  Horatius  went  home  at  the  head  of  the  army,  bearing  his  triple  spoils.  But 
as  they  were  drawing  near  to  tlie  Capenian  gate,  his  sister  came  out  to  meet 
him.  Now  slie  had  been  betrothed  in  marriage  to  one  of  the  Curiatii,  and  his 
cloak,  which  she  had  wrought  witli  her  owu  hands,  was  borne  on  the  shoulders 
of  her  brother ;  and  slie  knew  it,  and  cried  aloud,  and  wept  for  him  she  had 
loved.  At  the  sight  of  her  tears  Horatius  was  so  wroth  that  lie  drew  his  swonl 
and  stabbed  his  sister  to  the  heart,  and  he  said,  "  So  perish  the  Roman  maiden 
who  shall  weep  for  her  country's  enemy  ! "  ' — Arnold's  '  Hist,  of  Rome,'  i.  16. 

1  Livy,  i.  10. 

■-  Livy,  xxvii.  25  ;  xxix.  11. 


262  Walks  in  Rome 

Aiuoiig  the  many  other  historical  scenes  with  which  the  Porta 
Capcnais  connected,  we  may  remember  that  it  was  Iiere  that  Cicero 
was  received  in  triumph  by  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome  upon 
his  return  from  banishment,  B.C.  57. 

Tlie  aqueduct  of  the  Aqua  Marcia  had  its  termination  near  this. 


Two  roads  lead  to  the  Via  S.  Sebastiano — one  the  Via  S.  Gregorio, 
which  comes  from  the  Coliseum  beneath  the  Arch  of  Constantine  ; 
the  other,  the  street  which  comes  from  the  site  of  the  Ghetto, 
through  the  Circus  Maximus,  between  the  Palatine  and  Aventine. 

The  first  gate  on  the  left  after  the  junction  of  these  roads  is  that 
of  the  vineyard  of  the  monks  of  S.  Gregorio,  in  which  the  site  of 
the  Porta  Capena  was  found.  The  remains  discovered  were  re- 
buried,  owing  to  the  indifference  of  the  late  Government ;  but  the 
vineyard  is  worth  entering  on  account  of  the  picturesque  view  it 
possesses  of  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars. 

On  the  right  is  a  rope-walk,  with  remains  of  a  pretty  little  renais- 
sance villa.  There  a  lane  leads  up  the  Pseudo-Aventine  to  the 
Church  of  S.  Balbina,  described  Chap.  VIII. 

On  the  left,  where  the  Via  Appia  crosses  the  brook  of  the  Almo, 
now  called  Maranna,  the  Via  di  San  Sisto  Vecchio  leads  to  the  back 
of  tlie  Coelian  behind  S.  Stefano  Rotondo.  Here  also,  in  the  grounds 
of  the  Villa  Celimontana,  is  the  spring  which  modern  archaeology 
has  determined  to  be  the  true  Fountain  of  Egeria,  where  Nuraa 
Pompilius  is  described  as  having  his  mysterious  meetings  with  the 
nymph  Egeria.  The  locality  of  this  fountain  was  verified  when 
that  of  the  Porta  Capena  was  ascertained,  as  it  was  certain  that  it 
was  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  that  gate,  from  a  passg.ge 
in  the  3rd  Satire  of  Juvenal,  which  describes  that  when  he  was 
waiting  at  the  Porta  Capena  with  Umbritius  while  the  waggon  was 
loading  for  his  departure  to  Cumae,  they  rambled  into  the  valley  of 
Egeria,  and  Umbritius  said,  after  speaking  of  his  motives  for  leaving 
Rome,  '  I  could  add  other  reasons  to  these,  but  my  beasts  summon 
me  to  move  on,  and  the  sun  is  setting.  I  must  be  going,  for  the 
muleteer  has  long  been  summoning  me  by  the  cracking  of  his 
whip.' 

To  this  valley  the  oppressed  race  of  the  Jews  was  confined  by 
Dotnitian,  their  furniture  consisting  of  a  basket  and  a  wisp  of 
hay  :  — 

'  Nunc  sacri  fontis  nemns  et  delubra  locautur 
Judaeis,  quorum  copliinus  foeiiumque  supellex.' 

— Juvenal,  Sat.  iii.  13, 

On  the  right  are  the  Baths  of  Caracalla — Thermae  Antoninumae 
— (admission  1  fr.,  Sundays  free),  the  largest  mass  of  ruins  in  Rome, 
except  the  Coliseum  ;  consisting  for  the  most  part  of  huge  walls  of 
red  and  orange  coloured  brickwork,  framing  vast  strips  of  blue  sky. 
The  ruins,  formerly  most  beautiful,  from  the  immense  variety  of 
shrubs  and  flowers  which  adorned  them,  have  been  utterly  denuded 
since  the  change  of  Government,  and,  except  to  antiquaries,  are  now 
little  worth  visiting.     Men  are  even  let  down  by  ropes,  to  the  great 


Baths  of  Caracalla     ■  263 

danger  of  the  building  and  themselves,  to  tear  out  any  stray  plant 
which  may  have  found  a  resting-place  in  the  sides  of  the  walls. 
These  baths,  which  could  accouuiiodate  IGOO  bathers  at  once,  were 
begun  in  a.d.  212,  by  Caracalla,  continued  by  Heliogabahis,  and 
finished  under  Alexander  Severus.  They  covered  a  space  so  enor- 
mous that  their  size  made  Ammianus  Marcellinus  say  that  the 
Koman  baths  were  like  provinces — and  they  were  supplied  with 
water  by  the  Antonine  Aqueduct,  which  was  brought  hither  for 
that  especial  purpose  from  the  Claudian,  over  the  Arch  of  Drusus, 

'Imagine  every  entertainment  for  mind  and  body;  enumerate  all  the  gym- 
nastic games  our  fathers  invented  ;  repeat  all  tlie  lioolis  Italy  and  Greece  have 
produced  ;  suppose  places  for  all  these  games,  admirers  for  all  these  works;  add 
to  this,  baths  of  the  vastest  size,  the  most  complicated  combination ;  intersperse 
the  whole  with  gardens,  with  theatres,  with  porticoes,  with  schools  ;  suppose,  in 
one  word,  a  city  of  the  gods,  composed  but  of  palaces  and  public  edifices,  and 
you  may  form  some  faint  idea  of  the  glories  of  the  great  baths  of  Rome.' — Bulwer 
Lytton. 

The  baths  were  probably  built  on  the  gardens  of  Asinius  Pollio, 
the  '  Horti  Asinarii '  of  Frontinus.  Antiquaries  have  amused 
themselves  by  identifying  different  chambers,  to  which,  with  con- 
siderable uncertainty,  the  names  of  Calidarium,  Laconicum,  Tepi- 
darium,  Frigidarium,  &c.,  have  been  affi-xed.  '  In  contemplating 
antiquities,'  says  Livy,  'the  mind  itself  becomes  antique.' 
'  The  habits  of  luxury  and  inertia  which  were  introduced  with  the 
magnificent  baths  of  the  emperors  were  among  the  principal  causes 
of  the  decline  and  fall  of  Rome,  ynd  the  vices  which  were  en- 
couraged in  the  baths  found  their  reaction  in  the  impression  of 
the  early  Christians  that  uncleanliness  was  a  virtue,  an  impression 
which  is  retained  by  several  of  the  Monastic  Orders  to  the  present 
day.  They  were  like  gigantic  clubs.  Thousands  of  the  Roman 
youth  frittered  away  their  hours  in  these  mngnificent  hails,  which 
were  provided  with  everything  which  could  gratify  the  senses. 
Poets  were  wont  to  recite  their  verses  to  those  who  were  reclining 
in  the  baths. 

'  In  medio  qui 

Scripta  fore  recitent,  sunt  multi,  ([uique  lavantes  : 

Suave  locus  voci  resonat  conclusus.' 

—Horace,  Sat.  i.  iv.  74. 

'  These  Thermae  of  Caracalla,  which  were  one  mile  in  circumference,  and  open 
at  stated  hours  for  the  indiscriminate  service  of  the  senators  and  the  people, 
contained  above  sixteen  hundred  seats  of  marble.  The  walls  of  the  lofty  apart- 
ments were  covered  with  curious  mosaics  that  Imitated  the  art  of  the  pencil  in 
elegance  of  design  and  in  the  variety  of  their  colours.  The  Egyptian  granite  was 
beautifully  encrusted  with  the  precious  green  marble  of  Numidia.  The  perpetual 
stream  of  hot  water  was  poured  into  the  capacious  i)asins  through  so  many  wide 
mouths  of  bright  and  massy  silver  ;  and  the  meanest  Roman  could  purchase, 
with  a  small  copper  coin,  the  daily  enjoyment  of  a  scene  of  pomp  and  luxury 
which  might  excite  the  envy  of  the  kings  of  Asia.  From  these  stately  palaces 
issued  forth  a  swarm  of  dirty  and  ragged  plebeians,  without  shoes  and  without 
mantle  ;  who  loitered  away  whole  days  in  the  street  or  forum,  to  hear  news  and 
to  hold  disputes  ;  who  dissipated,  in  extravagant  gaming,  the  miserable  pittance 
of  their  wives  and  children,  and  spent  the  hours  of  the  night  in  the  indulgence 
of  gross  and  vulgar  sensuality.' — Gibbon. 

'Let  us  follow  one  of  the  elegant  youths  of  Rome  into  one  of  the  great 
tliermae.    He  is  welcomed  at  his  entrance  by  the  ostiarius,  or  porter,  a  tall 


264  Walks  in  Rome 

innjestii'  fellow  with  a  swoid  at  liis  side,  and  l)y  the  capsarius,  or  wardrobe- 
keeper,  who  takes  charge  of  his  wraps.  Then  follows  a  seneral  salutation  and 
kissing  of  friends,  exchange  of  the  last  topics  and  scandals  of  the  day  ;  reading 
of  the  newsjjapers,  or  acta  diurna.  'I'he  visitor  then  selects  tlie  kind  of  bath 
which  may  suit  his  i)articular  case— cold,  tepid,  warm,  slKJwer,  or  perspiration 
liatli.  The  liath  over,  the  real  business  liegins,  as,  for  example,  taking  a  con- 
>;itutional  up  and  down  the  beautiful  grounds,  indulging  in  athletic  sports  or 
^imi)le  gyniiuistics  to  restore  circulation,  and  to  prepare  himself  for  the  delights 
..f  the  table.  ,  ,  ,    ,  . 

'  The  luxurious  meal  finished,  the  gigantic  club-house  could  supply  him  with 
every  kind  of  amusement:  libraries,  concerts,  literary  entertainments,  reading 
of  the  latest  poems  or  novels,  popular  or  Barnum-like  shows,  coiiviisalion  with 
the  noblest  and  most  beautiful  women.  Very  often  a  second  bath  was  taken  to 
jirepare  for  the  evening  meal.  All  this  could  be  done  by  three  or  four  thousand 
ixrsons  at  one  and  the  same  time,  without  confusion  or  delay,  because  of  the 
great  number  of  servants  and  slaves  attached  to  the  establishment.'— /-ajiciaww, 
'  Ancient  Itoine.' 

The  service  of  the  baths  was  entirely  carried  on  by  means  of 
underground  pas.?ages,  wh'ch  enabled  the  slaves  to  move  about, 
and  appear  when  wanted,  without  interfering  with  the  crowd  of 
bathers. 

In  the  first  great  hall  was  found,  in  1824,  the  immense  mosaic 
pavement  of  the  pugilists,  now  in  the  Lateran  Museum.  Endless 
works  of  art  have  been  discovered  here  from  time  to  time,  among 
them  the  best  of  the  Farnese  collection  of  statues — the  Bull,  the 
torso  of  the  Hercules,^  and  the  Flora— which  were  dug  up  in  1584, 
when  Paul  III.  carried  off  all  the  still  remaining  marble  decorations 
of  the  baths  to  use  for  the  Farnese  Palace.  The  last  of  the  pillars 
to  be  removed  from  hence  is  that  which  supports  the  statue  of 
Justice  in  the  Piazza  S.  Trinitii  at  Florence. 

A  winding  stair  leads  to  the  top  of  the  walls,  which  were  once 
well  worth  ascending,  as  well  for  the  idea  which  you  there  receive 
of  the  vast  size  of  the  ruins,  as  fur  the  lovely  views  of  the  Campagna, 
which  were  obtained  between  the  bushes  of  lentiscus  and  phillyrea 
with  which  till  lately  they  were  fringed.  It  was  seated  on  these 
walls,  now  so  bare  and  hideous,  that  Shelley  wrote  his  'Prometheus 
Unbound.' 

'This  poem  was  chiefly  written  upon  the  mountainons  ruins  of  the  Baths  of 
Caracalla,  among  the  flowery  glades  and  thickets  of  odoriferous  blossoming 
trees  which  are  extended  in  ever-winding  labyrinths  upon  its  immense  platforms 
and  dizzy  arches  suspended  in  the  air.  The  bright  blue  sky  of  Rome,  and  the 
effect  of  the  vigorous  awakening  s])riug  in  the  divinest  climate,  and  the  new  life 
with  which  it  drenches  the  spirits  even  to  intoxication,  were  the  inspiration  of 
the  drama.' — J'reface  to  the  '  Prometheji.s.' 

'  Maintenant  Ics  nnirailles  sont  nues,  sauf  quelques  fragments  de  chapiteanx 
oublics  par  la  destruction ;  mais  elles  couservent  ce  que  seules  des  mains  de 
geaut  pourraient  leuruter,  lenr  masse  6crasante,  la  grandeur  de  leurs  aspects,  la 
sublimite  de  leurs  ruines.  On  ne  regrette  rien  quand  on  contemple  ces  enormes 
et  pittoresques  debris,  baignes  k  midi  par  une  ardente  lumiere  ou  se  remplissant 
d'ombres  a  la  tombee  de  la  unit,  s'tilan^ant  a  une  immense  hautein-  vers  un  ciel 
(5blouissant,  ou  se  dressant,  mornes  et  melancoliques,  sous  un  ciel  grisatre — ou 
bien,  lorsque,  montant  sur  la  plate-forme  inegale,  crevassee,  couverte  d'arbustes 

1  It  is  an  instance  of  the  singular  dispersion  of  ancient  fragments  at  Rome, 
that  the  head  of  this  statue  was  found  at  the  bottom  of  a  well  in  the  Trastevere, 
and  the  legs  on  a  farm  ten  miles  from  the  city. 


SS.  Nereo  ed  Achilleo  265 

et  tapissee  de  gazon,  on  voit,  coninie  du  liaut  dune  coUine,  dun  cotc  se  deroulor 
la  campagne  roniaine  et  le  nierveilleux  horizon  de  montagnes  mii  la  terniine,  <le 
I'autre,  apparaitre,  ainsi  ((U'une  montagne  de  plus,  Ic  dOme  de  Saint-Pierre,  la 
seule  des  ceuvres  de  rhomnie  iiui  ait  qiielcjue  chose  de  la  grandeur  des  cuuvres 
de  Dieu. ' — Ampere,  Emp.  ii.  286. 

The  name  of  the  lane  which  leads  to  the  baths  (  Via  all.-  A  ntoniana) 
recalls  the  fact  that,  '  with  a  vanit\'  whicli  seems  like  mockery, 
Caracalla  dared  to  bear  the  name  of  Antoninus,'  wliich  was  always 
dear  to  the  Koman  people. 

Some  interestinc;  ruins,  which  may  be  entered  at  No.  29  Via  Porta 
S.  Sebastiano,  probably  belong  to  the  House  of  the  Asinii — rooms, 
with  traces  of  fresco-paintings,  open  on  three  sides  of  a  peristyle, 
and  the  lararium  has  terra-cotta  panels,  with  representations  of 
deities,  still  in  tolerable  preservation. 

From  this  point  to  the  gate,  Rome  remains  more  what  it  was 
before  the  change  of  Government  than  in  any  other  quarter,  and 
there  is  a  charm  even  in  the  old  walls  overgrown  with  pellitory 
and  stonecrop.  We  now  pass  under  the  wall  of  the  Government 
Garden  for  raising  shrubs  for  the  public  walks.  On  the  right  we  reach 
SS.  Nereo  ed  Achilleo,  a  most  interesting  little  church.  The  tradi- 
tion runs  that  S.  Peter,  going  to  execution,  let  drop  here  one  of 
the  bandages  of  his  wounds,  and  that  the  spot  was  marked  by  the 
early  Christians  with  an  oratory,  which  bore  the  name  of  Fasciola. 
Nereus  and  Achilles,  eunuchs  in  the  service  of  Flavius  Clemens 
and  Flavia  Domitilla  (members  of  the  imperial  family  exiled- to 
Pontia  under  Diocletian),  having  suffered  martyrdom  at  Terracina, 
their  bodies  were  transported  here  in  52-1  by  John  I.,  wlien  the 
oratoiy  was  enlarged  into  a  church,  which  was  restored  under 
Leo  III.,  in  795.  The  church  was  rebuilt  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
by  Cardinal  Baronius,  who  took  his  title  from  hence.  In  his  work 
he  desired  that  the  ancient  basilica  character  should  be  carefully 
carried  out,  and  all  the  ancient  ornaments  of  the  church  were 
preserved  and  re-erected.  His  anxiety  that  his  successors  should 
not  meddle  with  or  injure  these  objects  of  antiquity  is  shown  by 
the  inscription  on  a  marble  slab  in  the  tribune  : — 

'  Presbyter  Card.  Successor  quisquis  fueris,  rogo  te,  per  gloriam  Dei,  et  per 
merita  horuni  martyruni,  nihil  demito,  nihil  minuito,  nee  mutato ;  restitutam 
antiquitatem  pie  servato  ;  sic  Deus  niartyrum  suorum  precibus  semper  adjuvet  1 

The  chancel  is  raised  and  surrounded  by  an  inlaid  marble  screen. 
Instead  of  ambones  there  are  two  plain  marble  reading-desks  for 
the  Epistle  and  Gospel.  The  candelabrum,  probably  annexed  from 
some  pagan  building,  is  of  the  most  exquisite  and  delicate  beauty. 
The  altar  is  inlaid,  and  has  '  transennae,'  or  a  marble  grating, 
through  which  the  tomb  of  the  saints  Nereus  and  Achilles  may  be 
seen,  and  through  which  the  faithful  might  pass  their  handker- 
chiefs to  touch  it.  Behind,  in  the  semicircular  choir,  is  an  ancient 
episcopal  throne,  supported  by  lions,  and  ending  in  a  gothic  gable. 
Upon  it  part  of  the  twenty-eighth  homily  of  S.  Gregory  was 
engraved  by  Baronius,  under  the  impression  that  it  was  delivered 
thence — though  it  was  really  first  read  in  the  catacomb,  whence 


266  Walks  in  Rome 

the  bodies  of  the  saints  were  not  yet  removed.  All  these  decora- 
tions are  of  the  restoration  under  Leo  HI.,  in  the  eighth  century. 
Of  the  same  period  are  the  mosaics  on  the  arch  of  the  tribune 
(partly  painted  over  in  later  times),  representing,  in  the  centre,  the 
Transliguration  (the  earliest  instance  of  the  subject  being  treated 
in  art;,  with  the  Annunciation  on  one  side  and  the  Madonna  and 
Child,  attended  by  angels,  on  the  other. 

It  is  worth  while  remarking  that  when  the  relics  of  Flavia  Domi- 
tilla  (who  was  niece  of  Vespasian)  and  of  Nereus  and  Achilles  were 
brought  hither  from  the  catacomb  on  the  Via  Ardeatina,  which 
bears  the  name  of  the  latter,  they  were  first  escorted  in  triumph  to 
the  Capitol,  and  made  to  pass  under  the  imperial  arclies  which 
bore  as  inscriptions  :  '  The  senate  and  the  Roman  people  to  S.  Flavia 
Domitilla,  for  having  brought  more  honour  to  Rome  by  her  death 
than  her  illustrious  relations  by  their  works.'  ...  'To  S.  Flavia 
Domitilla,  and  to  the  Saii.ts  Nereus  and  Achilles,  the  excellent 
citizens  who  gained  peace  for  the  christian  republic  at  the  price  of 
their  blood.' 

Opposite,  on  the  left,  is  a  courtyard  leading  to  the  Church  of 
S.  Sisto  (once  known  as  Titulus  Tigridae),  with  its  celebrated  con- 
vent, long  deserted  on  account  of  malaria. 

It  was  here  that  S.  Dominic  first  resided  in  Rome,  and  collected 
one  hundred  monks  under  his  rule,  before  he  was  removed  to 
S.  Sabina  by  Honorius  III.  After  he  went  to  the  Aventine,  it 
was  decided  to  utilise  this  convent  by  collecting  here  the  various 
Dominican  nuns,  who  had  been  living  hitherto  under  very  lax 
discipline,  and  allowed  to  leave  their  convents  and  reside  in  their 
own  families.  The  nuns  of  iS.  Jlaria  in  Trastevere  resisted  the 
order,  and  only  consented  to  remove  on  condition  of  bringing  with 
them  a  Madonna  picture  attributed  to  S.  Luke,  hoping  that  the 
Trasteverini  would  refuse  to  part  with  their  most  cherished  trea- 
sure. S.  Dominic  obviated  the  difficulty  by  going  to  fetch  the 
picture  himself  at  night,  attended  by  two  cardinals  and  a  bare- 
footed, torch-bearing  multitude. 

'  On  Ash-Wednesday  121S,  the  abbess  and  some  of  her  nuns  went  to  take  pos- 
session of  their  new  monastery,  and  being  in  tlie  chapter-house  with  S.  Dominic 
and  Cardinal  Stefano  di  Fossa  Nuova,  suddenly  there  came  in  one  tearing  his 
hair,  and  making  great  outcries,  tor  the  young  Lord  Napoleone  Orsini,  nephew  of 
the  cardinal,  had  been  thrown  from  his  horse  and  killed  on  the  spot.  The 
cardinal  fell  speechless  into  the  arms  of  Dominic,  and  the  women  and  others 
who  were  present  were  filled  with  grief  and  horror.  They  brought  the  body  of 
the  youth  into  the  chapter-house,  and  laid  it  before  the  altar ;  and  Dominic, 
having  prayed,  turned  to  it,  saying,  "O  adolescens  Xapoleo,  in  nomine  Domini 
nostri  Jesu  Christi  ti1)i  dico  surge,"  and  thereupon  he  arose  sound  and  whole,  to 
the  unspeakable  wonder  of  all  present.'— </a)«eson's  '  Monastic  Orders.' 

After  being  convinced  by  this  miracle  of  the  divine  mission  of 
S.  Dominic,  forty  nuns  settled  at  S.  Sisto,  promising  never  more  to 
cross  the  threshold. i 

There  is  very  little  remaining  of  the  ancient   S.  Sisto,  except 

1  Hemaus'  'Mediaeval  Sacred  Art.' 


The  Piscina  Publica  267 

the  campanile.  But  the  vaulted  Chapter-House,  now  dedicated  to 
S.  Dominic,  is  well  worth  visiting.  It  has  recently  been  covered 
with  frescoes  by  the  Padre  Besson — himself  a  Dominican  monk — 
who  received  his  commission  from  Father  MuUooly,  Prior  of  S. 
Clemeute,  the  Irish  Dominican  convent  to  which  S.  Sisto  is  now 
annexed.  The  three  principal  frescoes  represent  three  miracles  of 
S.  Dominic — in  each  case  of  raising  from  the  dead.  One  depicts 
the  resuscitation  of  a  mason  of  the  new  monastery  who  had  fallen 
from  a  scaffold  ;  another,  that  of  a  child  in  a  wild  and  beautiful 
Italian  landscape  ;  the  third,  the  restoration  of  Napoleone  Orsini 
on  this  spot — tlie  mesmeric  upspringing  of  the  lifeless  youth  being 
most  powerfully  represented.  The  whole  chapel  is  highly  pictur- 
esque, and  effective  in  colour.  Of  two  inscriptions,  one  commemo- 
rates the  raising  of  Orsini ;  the  other,  a  prophecy  of  S.  Dominic 
as  to  the  evil  end  of  two  monks  who  deserted  their  convent. 

Just  beyond  S.  Sisto,  where  the  Via  della  Ferratella  branches  off 
on  to  the  left  to  the  Lateran,  stands  a  small  aediculum,  or  Shrine 
of  the  Lares,  with  brick  niches  for  statues. 

Farther  on  the  right,  standing  back  from  a  kind  of  piazza, 
adorned  with  an  ancient  granite  column,  is  the  Church  of  S.  Cesareo,^ 
which  already  existed  in  the  time  of  S.  Gregory  the  Great,  but 
was  modernised  under  Clement  YII.  (1523-34).  Its  interior  retains 
many  of  its  ancient  features.  The  pulpit  is  one  of  the  most  ex- 
quisite specimens  of  church  decoration  in  Rome,  and  is  covered 
with  the  most  delicate  sculpture,  interspersed  with  mosaic  ;  the 
emblems  of  the  Evangelists  are  introduced  in  the  carving  of  the 
panels.  The  high-altar  is  richly  encrusted  with  mosaics,  probably 
by  the  Cosmati  family  ;  tiny  owls  form  part  of  the  decorations  of 
tlie  capitals  of  its  pillars.  Beneath  is  a  '  confession,'  where  two 
angels  are  drawing  curtains  over  the  tomb  of  the  saint.  The 
chancel  has  an  inlaid  marble  screen.  In  the  tribune  is  an  ancient 
episcopal  throne,  once  richly  ornamented  with  mosaics. 

In  this  church  S.  Sergius  was  elected  to  the  papal  throne  in  687  ; 
and  here,  also,  an  Abbot  of  SS.  Vincenzo  ed  Anastasio  was  elected, 
in  1145,  as  Eugenius  III.,  and  was  immediately  afterwards  forced 
by  the  opposing  senate  to  fly  to  Monticelli,  and  then  to,  the  Abbey 
of  Farfa,  where  his  consecration  took  place. 

Part  of  the  Palace  of  the  titular  cardinal  of  S.  Cesareo  remains 
in  the  adjoining  garden,  with  an  interesting  loggia  of  c.  1200,  till 
recently  in  its  colour  a  splendid  subject  for  an  artist. 

In  this  neighbourhood  was  the  Piscina  Publica,  which  gave  a 
name  to  the  twelfth  Region  of  the  city.  It  was  used  for  learning  to 
swim,  but  all  trace  of  it  had  disappeared  before  the  time  of  Festus, 
whose  date  is  uncertain,  but  who  lived  before  the  end  of  the  fourth 
century. 

'  In  thermas  fugio  :  sonas  ad  auretn  ; 
Piscinam  peto  :  non  licet  uatare.' 

—Mart.  Ep.  iii.  44. 


Seldom  open  e.xcept  in  the  mornings  of  Sinidays  and  festas. 


268  Walks  in  Rome 

Here  a  lane  turns  on  the  left,  towards  the  ancient  Porta  Latina, 
of  the  time  of  Arcadius  and  Honorius  (through  which  the  Via  Latina 
led  to  Capua),  now  closed,  but  well  preserved. 

In  front  of  the  gate  is  a  little  chapel,  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
called  S.  Giovanni  in  Oleo,  decorated  with  indiiferent  frescoes,  on 
the  spot  where  S.  John  is  said  to  have  been  thrown  into  a  cauldron 
of  boiling  oil  (under  Domitian),  from  which  'he  came  forth  as  from 
a  refreshing  bath.'  The  Mirah'dia  mentions  the  vessel  in  which 
S.  John  was  set  as  '  being  shown  in  the  twelfth  century.'  It  is  the 
suffering  in  the  burning  oil  which  gave  S.  John  the  palm  of  a 
martyr,  with  which  he  is  often  represented  in  art.  The  festival 
of  'S.  John  ante  Port.  Lat.'  (May  Gth)  is  preserved  in  the  English 
Church  Calendar. 

On  the  left  is  the  Church  of  S.  Giovanni  a  Porta  Latina,  built  in 
1190  by  Celestine  III. 

In  spite  of  many  moderaisations,  the  last  by  Cardinal  Rasponi  in 
168G,  this  building  retains  externally  more  of  its  ancient  character 
than  most  Roman  churches,  in  its  fine  campanile  and  the  old  brick 
walls  of  the  nave  and  apse,  decorated  with  terracotta  friezes.  The 
portico  is  entered  by  a  narrow  arch  resting  on  two  granite  columns. 
The  entrance-door  and  the  altar  have  the  peculiar  mosaic  ribbon 
decoration  of  the  Cosmati  of  llitO.  The  frescoes  are  all  modern  ; 
in  the  tribune  are  the  deluge  and  the  baptism  of  Christ — the  type 
and  antitype.  Of  the  ten  columns,  eight  are  simple  and  of  granite, 
two  are  fluted  and  of  porta-santa,  showing  that  they  were  not  made 
for  the  church  but  removed  from  some  pagan  building — probably 
from  the  temple  of  Ceres  and  Proserpine.  Near  the  entrance  is  a 
very  picturesque  marble  Well,  like  those  so  common  at  Venice  and 
Padua,  decorated  with  an  intricate  pattern  of  rich  carving. 

In  the  opposite  vineyard,  behind  the  chapel  of  the  Oleo,  very 
picturesquely  situated  under  the  Aurelian  Wall,  is  the  Columbarium 
of  the  Freedmen  of  Octavia.  A  columbarium  was  a  tomb  containing 
a  number  of  cinerary  urns  in  niches  like  pigeon-holes,  whence  the 
name.  Many  columbaria  were  held  in  common  by  a  great  number 
of  persons,  and  the  niches  could  be  obtained  by  purchase  or  in- 
heritance ;  in  other  cases,  the  heads  of  the  great  houses  possessed 
whole  columbaria  for  their  families  and  their  slaves.  In  the  present 
instance  the  columbarium  is  more  than  usually  decorated,  and, 
though  much  smaller,  it  is  far  more  worth  seeing  than  the  colum- 
baria which  it  is  the  custom  to  visit  immediately  upon  the  Appian 
Way.  One  of  the  cippi,  above  the  staircase,  is  beautifully  deco- 
rated with  shells  and  mosaic.  Below  is  a  chamber,  whose  vault  is 
delicately  painted  with  vines  and  little  Bacchi  gathering  in  the 
vintage.  Round  the  walls  are  arranged  the  urns,  some  of  them  in 
the  form  of  temples,  and  very  beautifully  designed,  others  merely 
pots  sunk  into  the  wall,  with  conical  lids,  like  pipkins  let  into  a 
kitchen-range.  A  beautiful  vase  of  lapis-lazuli  found  here  has  been 
transferred  to  the  Vatican. 


The  Vigna  Codini  269 

Proceeding  along  the  Via  Appia,  on  the  left,  by  a  tall  cypress 
(No.  12  ;  entrance,  25  c),  is  the  entrance  to  the  Tomb  of  the  Scipios, 
or  of  the  Gens  Cornelia,  a  small  catacomb  in  the  tufa  rock,  dis- 
covered in  1780,  from  which  the  famous  sarcopliagus  of  L.  Scipio 
Barbatus,  and  a  bust  of  the  poet  Ennius,^  were  removed  to  the 
Vatican  by  Pius  VII.  The  skeleton  of  Scipio  was  found  in  perfect 
preservation.  Pius  VI.  gave  the  gold  and  cornelian  signet-ring 
which  it  wore  to  the  antiquary  Dutens,  from  whom  it  passed  to 
Lord  Beverley,  and  it  is  now  at  Alnwick  Castle. 

'  The  Scipios"  tomb  contains  no  ashes '-  now  ; 
The  very  sepulchres  lie  teiiantless 
Of  their  heroic  dwellers.' 

— '  Childe  Harold.' 

The  contadino  at  the  neighbouring  farmhouse  provides  lights, 
with  which  one  can  visit  a  labyrinth  of  steep  narrow  passages, 
some  of  them  still  retaining  inscribed  sepulchral  slabs  of  peperino. 
Among  the  Scipios  whose  tombs  have  been  discovered  here  were 
Lucius  Scipio  Barbatus  and  his  son,  the  conqueror  of  Corsica  ;  Aula 
Cornelia,  wife  of  Cneus  Scipio  Hispallus  ;  a  son  of  Scipio  Africanus  ; 
Lucius  Cornelius,  son  of  Scipio  Asiaticus  ;  Cornelius  Scipio  Hispallus 
and  his  son  Lucius  Cornelius.  At  the  farther  end  of  these  passages, 
and  now,  like  them,  subterranean,  may  be  seen  the  pediment  and 
arched  entrance  of  the  tomb  towards  the  Via  Latina.  '  It  is  un- 
certain whether  Scipio  Africanus  was  buried  at  Liternum  or  in  the 
family  tomb.  In  the  time  of  Livy  monuments  to  him  were  extant 
in  both  places.'^  The  Cornelian  gens  always  retained  the  custom 
of  burying  instead  of  burning  their  dead. 

There  is  a  beautiful  view  towards  Rome  from  the  vineyard  above 
the  tomb.  At  the  other  end  of  the  Vigna,  towards  the  Porta  Latina 
(custode  at  the  tomb  of  the  Scipios),  are  the  Columbaria  of  Pom- 
ponius  Hylas,  discovered  1831.  Under  the  farmhouse  of  the  next 
vigna  (Pallavicini)  a  crypt  was  found  in  1875,  dedicated  to  Gabriel 
the  Archangel  and  the  Seven  Sleepers  of  Ephesus,  with  frescoes 
of  the  eleventh  century. 

A  little  farther  on,  left  (No.  14),  is  the  entrance  of  the  Vigna 
Codini  (a  private  garden  with  an  extortionate  custode),  containing 
four  interesting  Columbaria.  Three  of  these  are  large  square  vaults, 
supported  by  a  central  pillar,  which,  as  well  as  the  walls,  is  per- 
forated by  niches  for  urns.  The  fourth  has  three  vaulted  passages. 
Some  of  the  more  important  persons  have  miniature  sarcophagi. 
Amongst  other  inscriptions  a  lady's-maid  ('ornatrix'),   a  barber 


1  This  bust  has  been  supposed  to  represent  the  poet  Ennius,  the  friend  of 
Scipio  Africanus,  because  his  last  request  was  that  he  might  be  buried  liy  his 
side.  Even  in  the  time  of  Cicero,  Ennius  was  believed  to  be  buried  in  the  tomb 
of  the  Scipios.  '  Cams  fnit  Africano  superiori  noster  Ennius  ;  itaque  etiam  in 
sepulchro  Scipionura  putatur  is  esse  constitutus  e  marmore. '—Cjc.  Orat.  pro 
Arch.  Poet  a. 

-  :Not  really  '  ashes,'  for  the  Scipios  would  never  submit  to  cremation,  which 
they  thought  incompatible  with  their  ancient  lineage. 

■*  Dyer's  'Hist,  of  the  City  of  J!<nne.' 


270  Walks  in  Rome 

attached  to  the  imperial  household,  the  dumb  buffoon  of  Tiberius 
('T.  Caesaris  lusor'),  and  even  a  favourite  lapdog,  'the  delight  of 
its  mistress,'  are  comiiifniorated.  In  ISJO,  a  cubiculutii  (now  lost) 
was  discovered  here  with  christian  paintings  of  the  third  century. 

The  Arches  of  Trajan  and  Verus,  which  crossed  the  road  within 
the  walls,  have  been  destroyed,  but  just  within  the  gate  still  stands 
the  Arch  of  Drusus.  On  its  summit  are  the  remains  of  the  aqueduct 
by  which  Ciiraculla  carried  water  to  his  baths.'  The  arch  once  sup- 
ported an  equestrian  statue  of  Drusus,  two  trophies,  and  a  seated 
female  figure  representing  Germany. 

The  Arch  of  Drusus  was  decreed  by  the  senate  in  honour  of  the 
second  son  of  the  Empress  Livia  by  her  first  husband,  Tiberius 
Nero.  He  was  father  of  Germanicus  and  the  Emperor  Claudius, 
and  brother  of  Tiberius.  He  died  during  a  campaign  on  the  Khine, 
B.C.  9,  and  was  brought  back  by  his  stepfather  Augustus  to  be  buried 
in  his  own  mausoleum,  i'is  virtues  are  attested  in  a  poem  ascribed 
to  Pedo  Albinovanus. 

'This  arch,  "Marniorenm  arcuni  cum  tropaeo  Appia  Via"  (Suet.  1),  is,  witli 
the  exception  of  tlie  Pantheou,  the  most  perfect  existing  monument  of  Augustan 
architecture.  It  is  heavy,  plain,  and  narrow,  with  all  the  dignified  but  stern 
simplicity  which  belongs  to  the  character  of  its  age.' — Merivale. 

'  It  is  hard  for  one  who  loves  the  very  stones  of  Rome  to  pass  over  all  the 
thoughts  which  arise  in  his  mind  as  he  thinks  of  the  great  Apostle  treading  the 
rude  and  massive  pavement  of  the  Appiau  Way,  and  passing  under  the  Arch  of 
Drusus  at  the  Porta  S.  Sebastiano,  toiling  up  the  Capitoline  Hill  past  the  Talju- 
larium  of  the  Caiiitol,  dwelling  in  his  hired  house  in  the  Via  Lata  or  elsewhere, 
imprisoned  in  those  )iaiiited  caves  in  the  Praetorian  Camp,  and  at  last  pouring 
out  his  blood  for  Christ  at  the  Tie  Fontane,  on  the  road  to  Ostia.' — Dean  Alford's 
'  Study  of  the  Neiv  Testament,'  p.  ZZh. 

The  Arch  of  Drusus  was  sometimes  called  'arcus  stillae,' from 
the  dripping  of  the  aqueduct  over  it.  The  Pope  S.  Stephen  was 
imprisoned  and  held  a  synod  'in  carcere  ad  arcum  stillae.' 

The  Porta  San  Sebastiano,  the  ancient  Porta  Appia,  has  two  fine 
semicircular  towers  of  the  yV'relian  Wall,-  resting  on  a  basement 
of  marble  blocks,  probably  plundered  from  the  tombs  on  the  Via 
Appia.  Under  the  arch  is  a  gothic  inscription  relating  to  the 
repulse  of  an  invading  army  (that  of  King  Kobert  of  Naples)  in 
1327,  'by  the  people  of  Rome,  led  by  Jacopo  de'  Ponziani.'^ 

It  was  here  that  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome  received  in  state 
the  last  triumphant  procession  which  has  entered  the  city  by  the 
Via  Appia,  that  of  Marc  Antonio  Golonna,  after  the  victory  of 
Lepanto  in  1571.  As  in  the  processions  of  the  old  Roman  generals, 
the  children  of   the  conquered  prince  were  forced  to  adorn  the 


1  Middleton  {'Remains  of  Ancient  Rome,'  ii.  172)  maintains  that  the  Arch  of 
Drusus  was  merely  an  ornamental  arch  of  Caracalla's  aqueduct  where  it  crossed 
the  Via  Appia. 

2  The  magnificent  walls  of  Aurelian,  the  glory  of  Rome  and  admiration  of  the 
world,  are  (1900)  doomed  by  the  Government  to— disappear  ! 

3  In  the  Einsiedlen  IMS.  an  unknown  writer,  who  visited  Rome  in  the  ninth 
centuiy,  describes  the  walls  with  their  fourteen  (still  existing)  gates  and  3S3 
towers. 


Tomb  of  Priscilla  271 

triumph  of  the  victor,  who  rode  into  Rome  attended  by  all  the 
Roman  nobles,  'in  abito  di  grande  formality,' ^  preceded  by  the 
standard  of  the  fleet. 

On  the  right  of  the  Porta  is  one  of  the  (walled-up)  posterns,  only 
used  in  Jubilee  years,  and  beyond  the  tenth  tower  a  door  of  the 
first  century,  'flanked  by  half-columns  of  the  Corinthian  order, 
with  finely-cut  capitals  and  frieze,'  which  belonged  to  a  villa 
within  the  walls.  A  little  farther  on  is  the  Bastion  made  by  San- 
gallo  for  Paul  III.,  which  destroyed  nine  towers  of  the  wall,  as 
well  as  the  ancient  Porta  Ardeatina. 

From  the  gate,  the  Clivus  Martis  (crossed  by  the  railway  to  Civita 
Vecchia)  descends  into  the  valley  of  the  Almo,  where  antiquaries 
formerly  placed  the  Porta  Capena.  On  the  hillside  stood  a  Temple 
of  Mars,  vowed  in  the  Gallic  war,  and  dedicated  by  T.  Quinctius, 
the  'duumvir  sacris  faciundis, '  in  B.C.  387.  No  remains  exist  of  this 
temple.  It  was  'approached  from  the  Via  Capena  by  a  portico, 
which  must  have  rivalled  in  length  the  celebrated  portico  at  Bologna 
extending  to  the  church  of  the  Madonna  di  S.  Luca.'-  This  was 
the  place  where  S.  Sixtus  was  beheaded.  In  the  legendary  Acts  of 
S.  Stephen,  the  temple  is  described  as  having  fallen  down  upon  the 
prayer  of  the  saint.  Near  this,  a  temple  was  erected  to  Tempestas 
in  B.C.  260,  by  L.  Cornelius  Scipio,  to  commemorate  the  narrow 
escape  of  his  fleet  from  shipwreck  off  the  coast  of  Sardinia.^  Near 
this,  also,  the  poet  Terence  owned  a  small  estate  of  twenty  acres, 
presented  to  him  by  his  friend  Scipio  Emilianus.'* 

Near  the  bridge  over  the  Almo,  at  the  entrance  of  the  land  of 
tombs,'''  the  Columbarium  of  the  Freedmen  of  Livia  was  discovered 
in  1725,  containing  six  rooms  and  the  remains  of  no  less  than  six 
thousand  servants  and  their  families.  Of  these  no  less  than  six 
hundred  were  attached  to  the  person  of  Livia,  and  included  a  Lydus, 
rt  s((lc  Augustae,  keeper  of  her  armchair  ;  an  Aurelia,  a  cura  catellae, 
care-taker  of  her  lapdog  ;  a  Syneros,  ad  imagines,  who  took  care  of 
the  family  portraits,  &c. 

After  crossing  the  brook,  we  pass  between  two  conspicuous  tombs. 
That  on  the  left  is  the  Tomb  of  Geta,  son  of  Septimius  Severus,  the 
murdered  brother  of  Caracalla  ;  that  on  the  right  is  the  Tomb  of 
Priscilla,  wife  of  Abascantius,  a  favourite  freedman  of  Domitian. 

'  Est  locus  ante  urbeni,  qua  primum  nascitur  ingens 
Appia,  quaque  Italo  i;eniitus  Aliiione  Cybele 
Ponit,  et  Idaeos  jam  non  reminiscitur  amnes. 
Hie  te  Sidonio  velatam  niolliter  ostro 
Eximius  conjux  (nee  enini  fumaiitia  husta 
Clamorenique  rop;!  potuit  perferre)  beato 
Composuit,  Priscilla,  toro.' 

— Statins,  Sylv.  v.  i.  222. 


1  Coppi,  '  Memorie  Colonnesi,'  p.  342. 

2  See  Dyer's  '  Hist,  of  the  City  of  Rome,'  p.  85. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  97.  -1  ibid.,  p.  122 

5  No  less  than  1559  tombs  have  been  discovered  in  modern  times  beyond  the 
Aurelian  Wall,  in  the  triangular  space  between  the  Via  Appia  and  Via  Latina. 


272  Walks  in  Rome 

Just  bejond  this,  the  Via  Ardeatina  branches  off  on  the  right, 
passing,  after  about  two  miles,  the  picturesque  Vigna  Marancia,  a 
pleasant  spot,  with  fine  old  pines  and  cypresses,  near  which  an 
interesting  crypt  has  been  discovered  hewn  out  of  the  rock,  with 
an  inscription  showing  that  it  was  constructed  by  Marcus  Aureiius 
Restitutus,  an  early  Christian,  for  himself  and  his  family,  provided 
that  they  were  believers  in  Chvist—fidcntrs  in  Doiiiino. 

Where  the  roads  divide,  is  the  Church  of  Domine  Quo  Vadis,  con- 
taining a  copy  of  the  celebrated  footprint  said  to  have  been  left 
here  by  our  Saviour  :  the  original  being  removed  to  S.  Sebastiano. 

'After  the  Imrningof  Rome,  Nero  threw  upon  the  Christians  the  accusation 
of  having  tired  the  city.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  first  persecution,  in  which 
many  perished  by  terrilile  and  hitherto  unheard-of  deaths.  The  cluistian  con- 
verts besousiht  Peter  not  to  e.vpose  his  life.  As  he  fled  along  the  Appian  Way, 
about  two  miles  from  the  gates,  he  was  met  by  a  vision  of  our  Saviour  travelling 
towards  the  city.  Struck  with  :imazenieut,  he  exclaimed,  "Lord,  whither  goest 
ThouV"  to  which  the  Saviour,  looking  upon  him  with  a  mild  sadness,  replied, 
"  I  go  to  Home  to  be  crucified  a  second  time,"  and  vanished.  Peter,  taking  this 
as  a  sign  that  he  was  to  submit  himself  to  the  sufferings  prepared  for  him, 
immediately  turned  back  to  the  city.i  Michelangelo's  famous  statue,  now  In 
the  church  of  S.  Maria  sopra  Minerva,  is  supposed  to  represent  Christ  as  He 
appeared  to  S.  Peter  on  this  occasion.  A  cast  or  copy  of  it  is  in  the  little  church 
of  "  Domine  Quo  Vadis." 

'It  is  surprising  that  this  most  beautiful,  picturesque,  and,  to  my  fancy, 
sublime  legend  has  been  so  seldom  treated;  and  never,  as  it  seems  to  me,  in 
a  manner  worthy  of  its  capabilities  and  high  significance.  It  is  seldom  that 
a  story  can  be  told  by  two  figures,  and  these  two  figures  placed  in  such  grand 
and  dramatic  contrast :  Christ  in  His  serene  majesty,  and  radiant  with  all  the 
joy  of  beatitude,  yet  with  an  expression  of  gentle  reproach  ;  the  Apostle  at  His 
feet,  arrested  in  his  flight,  amazed,  and  yet  filled  with  a  trembling  joy  ;i  and  for 
the  background  the  wide  Carapagna  or  towering  walls  of  imperial  Rome. '— i)/;'«. 
Jameson.- 

Beyond  the  church  is  a  second  'Bivium,'  or  cross-ways,  where  a 
lane  on  the  left  leads  up  the  Valle  Caffarelle.  Here,  feeling  an  un- 
certainty which  was  the  crossing  where  our  Saviour  appeared  to 
S.  Peter,  the  English  Cardinal  Pole  erected  a  second  tiny  chapel  of 
'  Domine  Quo  Vadis,'  which  remains  to  this  day. 

Columbaria  near  this  are  assigned  to  the  Volusii  and  the  Caecilii. 

Over  the  wall  on  the  left  of  the  Via  Appia  now  hangs  in  profusion 
the  rare  yellow-berried  ivy  [Edera  chysocarpia).  It  is  represented 
in  the  mosaic  of  the  Capitol,  which  is  the  pendant  of  '  Pliny's 
Doves,'  where  there  are  two  masks,  one  of  them  crowned  with  this 
ivy.  Banqueters  wore  wreaths  of  ivy  because  it  was  supposed  to 
prevent  wine  from  going  to  their  heads.  Many  curious  plants  are 
to  be  found  on  these  old  Roman  walls.  Their  commonest  parasite, 
the  pellitory — '  Ihrba  parietinu  ' — calls  to  mind  the  nickname  given 
to  the  Emperor  Trajan  in  derision  of  his  passion  for  inscribing  his 
name  upon  the  walls  of  Roman  buildings  which  he  had  merely 


1  This  story  is  told  by  S.  Ambrose. 

'■i  The  story  is  represented  in  one  of  the  ancient  tapestries  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Anagni. 


The  Catacombs  of  S.  Calixtus  273 

restored,  as  if  he  were  their  founder  ; '  a  passion  in  wljich  the  popes 
afterwards  largely  participated. 

We  now  reach  (on  the  right)  the  entrance  to  the  Catacombs  of 
S.  Calixtus. 

(The  Catacombs  [except  those  at  S.  Sebastiaiio]  can  only  be  visited  in  company 
of  a  suiile.  For  most  of  the  Catacombs  it  is  necessary  to  obtain  apermesso  :  upon 
which  a  day  (generally  Sunday)  is  fixed,  which  must  be  adhered  to.  It  may  be 
well  for  the  visitor  to  provide  himself  with  tapers— ceruw.  The  Catacombs  of 
S.  Calixtus  are  superficially  sliown  at  all  times  without  a  special  permesso,  and 
are  (juite  sutticietit  for  the  requirements  of  the  ordinary  tourist.  A  visit  to  these, 
through  the  usual  wicket  gate  at  1  fr.  a  head,  in  a  crowd  of  Cook's  tourists, 
rendei-s  study  and  sentiment  alike  impossible.) 

All  descriptions  of  dangers  attending  a  visit  to  the  Catacombs, 
if  accompanied  by  a  guide  and  provided  with  'cerini, '  are  quite 
imaginary.  Neither  does  the  visitor  ever  suffer  from  cold  ;  the 
temperature  of  the  Catacombs  is  mild  and  warm  ;  the  vaults  are 
almost  always  dry,  and  the  air  pure. 

'  The  Roman  Catacombs— a  name  consecrated  by  long  usage,  but  having  no 
etymological  meaning,  and  not  a  very  determinate  geographical  one — are  a  vast 
labyrinth  of  galleries  excavated  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  in  the  hills  around 
the  Eternal  City  ;  not  in  the  hills  on  which  the  city  itself  was  built,  but  those 
beyond  the  walls.  Their  extent  is  enormous ;  not  as  to  the  amount  of  super- 
ficial soil  which  they  underlie,  for  they  rarely,  if  ever,  pass  beyond  the  third 
milestone  from  the  city,  but  in  the  actual  length  of  their  galleries  ;  for  these  are 
often  excavated  on  various  levels,  or  piani,  three,  four,  or  even  five— one  above 
the  other  ;  and  they  cross  and  recross  one  another,  sometimes  at  short  intervals, 
on  each  of  these  levels  ;  so  that,  on  the  whole,  there  are  certainly  not  less  than 
350  miles  of  them  ;  that  is  to  say,  if  stretclied  out  in  one  continuous  line,  they 
would  extend  the  whole  length  of  Italy  itself.'-  The  galleries  are  from  two  to 
four  feet  in  width,  and  vary  in  height  according  to  the  nature  of  the  rock  in 
which  they  are  dug.  The  walls  on  both  sides  are  pierced  with  horizontal  niches, 
like  shelves  in  a  bookcase  or  berths  in  a  steamer,  and  every  niche  once  contained 
one  or  more  dead  Ijodies.  At  various  intervals  this  succession  of  shelves  is  in- 
terrupted for  a  moment,  that  room  may  be  made  for  a  doorway  opening  into  a 
small  chamber  ;  and  the  walls  of  tliese  chambers  are  generally  pierced  with  graves 
in  the  same  way  as  the  galleries. 

'  These  vast  excavations  once  formed  the  ancient  christian  cemeteries  of 
Rome  ;  they  were  begun  in  apostolic  times,  and  continued  to  be  used  as  burial- 
places  of  the  faithful  till  tlie  capture  of  the  city  by  Alaric  in  the  year  410.  In 
the  third  century  the  Roman  Church  numbered  twenty-five  or  twenty-six  of 
them,  corresponding  to  the  number  of  her  titles,  or  parishes,  within  the  city ; 
and  besides  these,  tliere  were  about  twenty  others  of  smaller  dimensions,  isolated 
monuments  of  special  martyrs,  or  belonging  to  this  or  that  private  family. 
Originally  they  all  belonged  to  private  families  or  individuals,  the  villas  or 
gardens  in  which  they  were  dug  being  the  property  of  wealthy  citizens  who  had 
embraced  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  devoted  of  their  substance  to  His  service. 
Hence  their  most  ancient  titles  were  taken  merely  from  the  names  of  their  law- 
ful owners,  many  of  which  still  survive.  Lucina,  for  example,  who  lived  in  the 
days  of  the  Apostles,  and  others  of  the  same  family,  or  at  least  of  the  same 
name,  who  lived  at  various  periods  in  the  next  two  centuries  ;  Priscilla,  also  a 
contemporary  of  the  Apostles;  Flavia  Domitilla,  niece  of  Vespasian;  Comnio- 
dilla,  whose  property  lay  on  the  Via  Ostiensis ;  C-'iriaca,  on  the  Via  Tiburtina ; 
Pretextatus,  on  the  Via  Appia  ;  Pontiano,  on  the  Via  Portuensis  ;  and  the  Jordani, 
Maximus,  and  Thraso,  all  on  the  Via  Salaria  Nova.  These  names  are  still 
attached  to  the  various  catacombs,  because  they  were  originally  begun  upon 


1  Amni.  Marcell.  lib.  xxvii.  c. 

2  Michele  Stefano  de  Rossi  calculates  the  aggregate  length  of  catacomb  galleries 
at  587  miles. 

VOL.  I.  S 


274  Walks  in  Rome 

the  land  of  tliose  who  bore  them.  Other  catacombs  are  known  by  the  names  of 
those  who  presided  over  their  formation,  as  that  of  S.  Calixtus,  on  the  Via 
Appia  ;  or  S.  Mark,  on  tlie  Via  Ardeatina  ;  or  of  the  piincipal  martyrs  who  were 
buried' ill  tlieni,  as  SS.  Hermes,  Basilla,  Protus,  and  Hyacintlius,  on  the  Via 
Malaria  Vetiis  ;  or,  lastly,  by  some  peculiarity  of  their  position,  as  ad  Catacumbas 
on  the  Via  Appia,  and  ad  diiax  Lauros  on  the  Via  Labicaiia. 

'It  has  always  been  agreed  among  men  of  learning  who  have  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  examining  these  excavations,  that  they  were  used  exclusively  by  the 
Christians  as  places  of  burial  and  of  holding  religious  assemblies.  Modern 
research  has  now  placed  it  beyond  a  doulit  that  they  were  also  originally 
designed  for  this  puri>i)se  and  for  no  other  :  that  they  were  not  deserted  sand- 
pits (arcnariac)  or  <iuarries,  adapted  to  christian  uses,  but  a  development,  with 
important  moditiralions,  of  a  form  of  sepulchre  not  altogether  unknown  even 
among  the  heathen  families  of  Home,  and  in  common  use  among  the  .Tews  both 
in  Rome  and  elsewhere. 

•  At  tlrst  the  work  of  making  the  catacombs  was  done  openly  without  let  or 
hindrance,  by  the  Christians ;  the  entrances  to  them  were  public,  on  the  high- 
road or  on  the  hillside,  and  the  galleries  and  chambers  were  freely  decorated 
with  paintings  of  a  saured  character.  But  early  in  the  third  century  it  became 
necessary  to  withdraw  them  as  much  as  possible  from  the  public  eye  ;  new  and 
often  ditlicult  entrances  were  now  ett'ected  in  the  recesses  of  deserted  arenai'iae, 
and  even  the  liberty  of  christian  art  was  cramped  and  fettered,  lest  what  was 
holy  should  fall  under  the  profane  gaze  of  the  nnbaptized. 

'  Each  of  these  burial-places  was  called  in  v.neient  times  either  hypogaeum,  i.e. 
generically,  a  subterranean  place,  or  coemetciiiun,  a  sleeping-place,  a  new  name 
of  christian  origin  which  the  pagans  could  only  repeat,  probably  without  under- 
standing ;  sometimes  also  martyriinn  or  confessio  (its  Latin  e(iuivalent),  to 
signify  that  it  was  the  burial-place  of  martyrs  or  confessors  (jf  the  faith.  An 
ordinary  grave  was  called  locu.s  or  loculun,  if  it  contained  a  single  body ;  or 
bisoiinan,  trinnmvm,  or  fjuadn'sonunn,  if  it  contained  two,  three,  or  four.  The 
graves  were  dug  by  .^o.s'.s()/7«,  and  l)urial  in  them  was  called  depositio.  The  galleries 
do  not  seem  to  have  had  any  si)eciflc  name  ;  but  the  chambers  were  called 
eubicula.  In  most  of  these  ehamliers,  and  sometimes  also  in  the  galleries  them- 
selves, one  or  more  tombs  are  to  be  seen  of  a  more  elaborate  kind  ;  a  long  oblong 
chiUse,  like  a  sarcophagus,  either  hollowed  out  in  the  rock  or  built  up  of  masonry, 
and  closed  by  a  heavy  slab  of  marble  lying  horizontally  on  the  top.  The  niche 
over  tombs  of  this  kind  was  of  the  same  length  as  the  grave,  and  generally 
vaulted  in  a  semicircular  form,  whence  they  were  called  arcosulia.  Sometimes, 
however,  the  niche  retained  the  rectangular  form,  in  which  case  there  was  no 
special  name  for  it,  but  for  distinction's  sake  we  may  be  allowed  to  call  it  a  table- 
tomb.  Those  of  the  arcomlia  which  were  also  the  tombs  of  martyrs  were  used 
jn  the  anniversaries  of  their  deaths  (natalitia  or  birthdays)  as  altars  whereon 
the  holy  mysteries  were  celebrated  ;  hence,  whilst  some  of  the  cubinda  were  only 
family  vaults,  others  were  chapels  or  places  of  public  assembly.  It  is  probable 
that  the  holy  mysteries  were  celebrated  also  in  the  private  vaults  on  the  anni- 
versaries of  the  deaths  of  their  occupants  ;  and  each  one  was  sufficiently  large 
in  itself  for  use  on  these  private  occasions  ;  but  in  order  that  as  many  as  pos- 
sible might  assist  at  the  public  celebrations,  two,  three,  or  even  four  of  the 
cubicxUa  were  often  made  close  together,  all  receiving  light  and  air  through  one 
shaft  or  air-hole  (himinare),  pierced  through  the  superincumbent  soil  up  to  the 
open  air.  In  this  way  as  many  as  a  hundred  persons  might  be  collected  in  some 
parts  of  the  catacombs  to  assist  at  the  same  act  of  public  worship  ;  whilst  a  still 
lirger  number  might  have  been  dispersed  in  the  «(A(c«i«  or  neighbouring  galleries, 
and  received  there  the  bread  of  life  brought  to  them  by  the  assistant  priests  and 
deacons.  Indications  of  this  arrangement  are  not  only  to  be  found  in  ancient 
ecclesiastical  writings  ;  they  may  still  be  seen  in  the  very  walls  of  the  catacombs 
themselves,  episcopal  chairs,  chairs  for  the  presiding  deacon  or  deaconess,  and 
benches  for  the  faithful,  having  formed  part  of  the  original  design  when  the 
chambers  were  hewn  out  of  the  living  rock,  and  still  remaining  where  they  were 
first  made.' — Xorthcote  and  Bmvnlow,  '  Jiotna  Sotterranea.' 

'  To  our  classic  associations,  Kome  was  still  under  Trajan  and  the  Anton  ines, 
the  city  of  the  Caesars,  the  metropolis  of  pagan  idolatry — in  the  pages  of  her 
poeis  and  historians  we  still  linger  among  the  triumphs  of  the  Capitol,  the  shows 
of  the  Coliseum  ;  or  if  we  read  of  a  Christian  being  dragged  before  the  tribunal 


Origin  of  the  Catacombs  275 

or  exposed  to  the  Ijeasts,  we  think  of  him  as  one  of  a  scattered  community,  few 
in  number,  spiritless  in  action,  and  politically  insignificant.  But  all  this  while 
there  was  living  beneatli  the  visible  an  invisil)le  Rome — a  population  unheeded, 
unreckoned — thought  of  vaguely,  vaguely  spoken  of,  and  with  the  familiarity 
and  inditterence  that  men  feel  who  live  on  a  volcano— yet  a  population  strong- 
hearted,  of  quick  impulses,  nerved  alike  to  suffer  or  to  die,  and  in  number, 
resolution,  and  physical  force  sufficient  to  have  Inirled  their  oppressors  from  the 
throne  of  the  world,  had  they  not  deemed  it  their  duty  to  kiss  the  rod,  to  love 
their  enemies,  to  bless  those  that  cursed  them,  and  to  submit  for  their  Redeemer's 
sake  to  the  "powers  that  be."  Here,  in  these  "dens  and  caves  of  the  earth," 
they  lived  ;  here  they  died — a  "  spectacle  "  in  their  lifetime  "  to  men  and  angels," 
and  in  tlieir  death  a  "triumph"  to  mankind — a  triumph  of  which  the  echoes 
still  tl(}at  around  the  walls  of '  Kome  and  over  the  desolate  C'ampagna,  while 
those  that  once  thrilled  the  Capitol  are  silenced,  and  the  walls  that  returned 
them  have  long  since  crumbled  into  dust.'— iyorri  Lindsay's  '  Christian  Art,'  i.  4. 

'What  Saint  Louis  of  France  discerned,  and  found  so  irresistibly  touching, 
through  the  dimness  of  many  centuries,  as  a  painful  thing  done  for  love  of  him 
l)y  One  whom  he  had  never  seen,  was,  to  them,  a  thing  of  yesterday ;  and  their 
hearts  were  full  with  it  ;  it  had  the  force,  among  their  interests,  of  an  almost 
recent  event  in  the  career  of  one  whom  their  fatliers'  fathers  might  have  known. 
From  memories  so  sublime,  yet  so  close  to  them,  had  the  narration  descended 
in  which  these  acts  of  worship  centred  ;  audi  again  the  names  of  the  more  recent 
dead  were  mingled  with  it.  And  it  seems  as  if  the  very  dead  were  aware  ; 
were  stirring  beneath  the  slabs  of  the  sepulchres  which  lay  so  near,  that  they 
might  associate  themselves  to  that  enthusiasm — to  that  exalted  worship  of 
Jesus.' — Walter  Pater,  'ilarius  the  Eincurean.' 

The  name  Catacombs  is  modern,  having  originally  been  only 
applied  to  S.  Sebastiano  '  ad  catacumbas.'  The  early  Christians 
called  their  burial-places  by  the  Greek  name  Coemetcria,  sleeping- 
places.  Almost  all  the  catacombs  are  between  the  first  and  third 
milestones  from  the  Aurelian  Wall,  to  which  point  the  city  extended 
before  the  wall  itself  was  built.  This  was  in  obedience  to  the  Roman 
law  which  forbade  burial  within  the  precincts  of  the  city. 

The  fact  that  the  Christians  were  always  anxious  not  to  burn 
their  dead,  but  to  bury  them  in  these  rock-hewn  sepulchres,  was 
probably  owing  to  the  remembrance  that  our  Lord  was  Himself 
laid  'in  a  new  tomb  hewn  out  of  the  rock,'  and  perhaps  also  for 
this  reason  the  bodies  were  wrapt  in  fine  linen  cloths,  and  buried 
with  precious  spices,  of  which  remains  have  been  found  in  the 
tombs. 

The  Catacomb  which  is  known  as  S.  Calixtus  is  composed  of  a 
number  of  catacombs,  once  distinct,  but  now  joined  together.  Such 
were  those  of  S.  Lucina ;  of  Anatolia,  daughter  of  the  consul 
Aemilianus ;  and  of  S.  Soteris,  'a  virgin  of  the  family  to  which 
S.  Ambrose  belonged  in  a  later  generation,'  and  who  was  buried  '  in 
coemeterio  suo,'  A.D.  304.  The  passages  of  these  catacombs  were 
gradually  united  with  those  which  originally  belonged  to  the 
cemetery  of  Calixtus. 

The  high  mass  of  ruin  which  meets  our  eyes  on  first  entering  the 
vineyard  of  S.  Calixtus  is  a  remnant  of  the  tomb  of  the  Caecilii,  of 
which  family  a  number  of  epitaphs  have  been  found.  Beyond  this 
is  another  ruin,  supposed  by  Marangoni  to  have  been  the  basilica 
which  S.  Damasus  provided  for  his  own  burial  and  that  of  his 
mother  and  sister  ;  which  Padre  Marchi  believed  to  be  the  church  of 


276  Walks  in  Rome 

S.  Mark  and  S.  Marcellinus,  but  which  De  Rossi  identifies  with  the 
celia  memoriae,  sometimes  called  of  S.  Sistus,  sometimes  of  S.  Cecilia 
(because  built  immediately  over  the  graves  of  those  martyrs),  by  S. 
Fabian  in  the  third  century.' 

'The  edifice  has  the  shape  of  a  square  hall  with  three  apses— (•<■//«  trichora. 
It  is  i)uilt  over  the  part  of  the  catacombs  which  was  excavated  in  the  time  of 
Pope  Kahianus  (A.I>.  i36-250),  who  is  known  to  have  raised  iniilfas  fabricas per 
coeineteria;  it  is  prohably  liis  work,  as  the  style  of  masonry  is  exactly  that  of  the 
tlrst  half  of  the  third  century.  The  original  nchola  was  covered  with  a  wooden 
roi)f,  ami  liad  no  fai;ade  or  door.  In  the  year  2.')8,  while  Sixtus  II.,  attended  by 
his  deacons  Felicissimus  and  .Agapetus,  was  presiding  over  a  meeting  at  this 
place  in  spite  of  the  prohiliition  of  Valerian,  a  body  of  men  invaded  the  gchola, 
murdered  the  bishop  and  bis  acolytes,  and  razed  the  building  nearly  to  the  level 
of  the  ground.  Half  a  century  later,  in  the  time  of  Constantine,  it  was  restored 
to  its  oriirinal  shape  with  the  addition  of  a  vaulted  roof  and  a  fag.ade.  The  line 
which  sejiarates  the  old  foundation  of  Kabianus  from  the  restorations  of  the  age 
of  peace  is  clearly  visible.  Later  the  schola  was  changed  into  a  church  and  dedi- 
cated to  the  memory  of  Syxtus,  ».ho  had  lost  his  life  there,  and  of  Caecilia,  who 
was  buried  in  the  crypt  below.  It  became  a  great  place  of  pilgiimage,  and  the 
itineraries  mention  it  as  one  of  the  leading  stations  on  the  Appian  Way. 

'  When  De  Rossi  first  visited  the  place,  the  famous  schola  or  church  of  Syxtus 
and  Caecilia  was  used  as  a  wine-cellar,  while  the  crypts  of  Caecilia  and  Cornelius 
were  used  as  vaults.  Thanks  to  his  initiative,  the  monument  has  again  become 
the  property  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  and  after  a  lapse  of  ten  or  twelve  centuries 
divine  service  was  resumed  in  it  in  April  1892.  Its  walls  have  been  covered  with 
inscriptions  found  in  the  adjoining  cemetery.' — Lanciani. 

Descending  into  the  catacomb  by  an  ancient  staircase  restored, 
we  reacli  (passing  a  sepulchral  cnbiculum  on  the  right)  the  Chapel 
of  the  Popes,  a  place  of  burial  and  of  worship  of  the  third  or  fourth 
century  as  it  was  restored  after  its  discovery  in  1854,  but  still  re- 
taining remains  of  the  marble  slabs  with  wliich  it  was  faced  by 
Sixtus  III.  in  the  fifth  century,  and  of  marble  columns,  &c.,  with 
which  it  was  adorned  by  S.  Leo  III.  (795-816).  Over  the  entrance 
is  inscribed  'Gerusale(m)  civitas  et  ornamentum  martyrum  Dni.' 
The  walls  are  lined  with  graves  of  the  earliest  popes,  many  of  them 
martyrs — viz.,  S.  Zephyrinus  (202-211) ;  S.  Pontianus,  who  died  in 
banishment  in  Sardinia  (231-23G) ;  S.  Anteros,  martyred  under 
Maximian  in  the  second  month  of  his  pontificate  (236)  ;  S.  Fabian, 
martyred  under  Decius  (236-250)  ;  S.  Lucius,  martyred  under 
Valerian  (253-255);  S.  Stephen  I.  martyred  in  his  episcopal  chair, 
under  Valerian  (255-257)  ;  S.  Sixtus  II.,  martyred  in  the  Catacombs 
of  S.  Pretextatus  (257-260) ;  S.  Dionvsius  (260-271) ;  S.  Eutvchianus, 
martyr  (275-283)  ;  and  S.  Caius  (284-296).  Of  these,  the  grave- 
stones of  Anteros,  Fabianus,  Lucius,  and  Eutychianus  have  been 
discovered,  with  inscriptions  in  Greek,  which  is  acknowledged  to 
have  been  the  earliest  language  of  the  Church — in  which  S.  Paul 
and  S.  James  wrote,  and  in  which  the  proceedings  of  the  first 
twelve  Councils  were  carried  on.-  Though  no  inscriptions  have 
been  found  relating  to  the  other  popes  mentioned,  they  are  known 
to  have  been  buried  here  from  the  earliest  authorities.     Calixtus, 


'  Roma  Sotterranea,'  p.  130. 
Ibid.,  p.  177. 


Cubiculum  of  S.  Cecilia  277 

who  founded  the  cemetery,  and  was  martyred  by  being  tlirown 
from  the  window  of  his  house  near  S.  Maria  in  Trastevere,  is  not 
buried  here,  but  in  the  Catacomb  of  Calepodius. 

Over  the  site  of  the  ahar  i-;  one  of  the  beautifully-cut  inscriptions 
of  Pope  S.  Damasus  (3G6-384),  'whose  labour  of  love  it  was  to  re- 
discover the  tombs,  which  had  been  blocked  up  for  concealment 
under  Diocletian,  to  remove  the  earth,  widen  the  passages,  adorn 
the  sepulchral  chambers  with  marble,  and  support  the  friable  tufa 
walls  with  arches  of  brick  and  stone.'  ^ 

'  Hie  congesta  jacet  quaeris  si  turlja  Piorum, 
Corpora  Sanctorum  retinent  veneranda  sepulchra, 
Sublimes  an  i  mas  rapuit  sibi  Regia  C'oeli : 
Hie  comites  Xysti  portant  qui  ex  hosts  tropaea  ; 
Hie  Humerus  procerum  servat  qui  altaria  Christi ; 
Hie  positus  longa  vixit  qui  in  pace  Sacerdos ; 
Hie  Confessores  sancti  quos  Graecia  misit ; 
Hie  juvenes  puerique,  senes  eastique  nepotes, 
Quis  mage  virgineuni  placuit  retinere  pudorem. 
Hie  fateor  Damasus  volui  mea  eondere  membra, 
Sed  ciueres  timui  sanetos  vexare  Piorum.' 

Here,  if  you  would  know,  lie  heaped  together  a  number  of  the  holy  ; 

These  honoured  sepulchres  inclose  the  bodies  of  the  saints. 

Their  lofty  souls  the  palace  of  heaven  has  received. 

Here  lie  the  companions  of  Xystus,  who  bear  away  the  trophies  from  the 

enemy ; 
Here  a  tribe  of  the  elders  which  guard  the  altars  of  Christ ; 
Here  is  buried  the  priest  who  lived  long  in  peace ;  2 
Here  the  holy  confessors  who  came  from  Greece  :S 
Here  lie  youths  and  boys,  old  men  and  their  chaste  descendants, 
Who  kept  their  virginity  undeflled. 
Here  I  Damasus  wished  to  have  laid  my  limbs, 
'    But  feared  to  disturb  the  holy  ashes  of  the  saints.'  -i 

From  this  chapel  we  enter  the  Cubiculum  of  S.  Cecilia,  where 

the  body  of  the  saint  was  buried  by  her  friend  Urban  after  her 
martyrdom  in  her  own  house  in  the  Trastevere  (see  Chap.  XVII.), 
A.D.  224,  and  where  it  was  discovered  in  820  by  Pope  Paschal  I. 
(to  whom  its  resting-place  had  been  revealed  in  a  dream),  'fresh 
and  perfect  as  when  it  was  first  laid  in  the  tomb,  and  clad  in  rich 
garments  mixed  with  gold,  with  linen  cloths  stained  with  blood 
rolled  up  at  her  feet,  lying  in  a  cypress  coffin.''' 

Close  to  the  entrance  of  the  cubiculum,  upon  the  wall,  is  a 
painting  of  Cecilia,  'a  woman  richly  attired,  and  adorned  with 
bracelets  and  necklaces.'  Near  it  is  a  niche  for  the  lamp  which 
burned  before  the  shrine,  at  the  back  of  which  is  a  large  head  of 


1  'Roma  Sotterranea,'  p.  97. 

-  S.  Melchiades,  biu'ied  in  another  part  of  the  catacomb,  who  lived  long  in 
peace  after  the  persecution  had  ceased,  and  who  was  the  hist  pope  to  be  buried 
near  his  predecessors  'in  coemeteiiis  Callisti  in  eripta.'  The  succeeding  popes 
were  buried  in  chapels  above  the  Catacombs. 

•'  Hippolytus,  Adrias,  llarca,  Xeo,  Paulina,  and  others. 

•*  S.  Damasus  was  buried  in  the  chapel  above  the  entrance. 

Ti  '  A  more  striking  commentary  on  the  divine  promise,  "  The  Lord  keepeth  all 
the  bones  of  His  servants  ;  He  will  not  lose  one  of  them "  (Ps.  xxxiii.  24),  it 
would  be  difficult  to  conceive.'  -'  Roma  Sotterraiiea.' 


278  Walks  in  Rome 

our  Saviour,  '  of  the  Byzantine  type,  and  with  rays  of  glory  behind 
it  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross.  Side  by  side  with  this,  but  on  the 
ll.'it  surface  of  the  wall,  is  a  figure  of  S.  Urban  (friend  of  Cecilia, 
who  laid  her  body  here)  in  full  pontifical  robes,  with  his  name 
inscribed.'  Hisrlier  on  the  wall  are  figures  of  three  saints,  '  exe- 
cuted apparently  in  the  fourth,  or  perhaps  even  the  fifth  century' 
-Polycamus,  an  unknown  martyr,  with  a  palm  branch ;  Sebastianus, 
and  Curinus,  a  bishop  (Quiriniis,  Bishop  of  Siscia— buried  at  S, 
Scbastiano).  In  the  pavement  is  a  gravestone  of  Septimus  Pre- 
lextatus  Caecilianus,  'a  servant  of  God,  who  lived  worthy  for 
three-and-thirty  years' — considered  important  as  suggesting  a 
connection  between  the  family  of  Cecilia  and  that  of  S.  Praetextatus, 
in  whose  catacomb  on  the  other  side  of  the  Appian  Way  her 
husband  and  brother-in-law  were  buried,  and  where  her  friend 
S.  Urban  was  concealed.  Several  Christians  of  the  noblest  families 
in  Rome — Caecilii,  Cornelii,  Aemilii — are  buried  near  Cecilia. 

These  two  chapels  are  the  only  ones  which  it  is  necessary  to  dwell 
upon  here  in  detail.  The  rest  of  the  catacomb  is  shown  in  varying 
order,  and  explained  in  different  ways.  Three  points  are  of  historic 
interest.  1.  The  roof-shaped  tomb  of  Pope  S.  Melchiades,  who  lived 
long  in  peace  and  died  A.D.  313.  2.  The  Cubiculum  of  Pope  S. 
Eusebius,  in  the  middle  of  which  is  placed  an  inscription,  pagan  on 
one  side,  on  the  other  a  restoration  of  the  fifth  century  of  one  of  the 
beautiful  inscriptions  of  Pope  Damasus,  which  is  thus  translated  : — 

'  Ileraclius  forbade  the  lapsed  to  g;rieve  for  tlieir  sins.  Eusebius  taught  those 
unhiippy  ones  to  weep  for  their  crimes.  Tlie  people  were  rent  into  parties,  and 
with  increasing  fury  began  sedition,  .slaughter,  fighting,  discord,  and  strife. 
Slraiirhtway  both  (the  pope  and  the  heretic)  were  banished  by  the  cruelty  of  the 
tyrant,  although  the  pope  was  preserving  the  bonds  of  peace  inviolate.  He  bore 
his  exile  with  joy,  looliing  to  the  Lord  as  his  Judge,  and  on  the  shore  of  Sicily 
gave  up  the  world  and  his  life.' 

At  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  tablet  is  the  following  title  : — 

'  Damasus  Episcopus  fecit  Eusebio  episcopo  et  martyri," 

and  on  either  side  a  single  file  of  letters  which  hands  down  to  us 
the  name  of  the  sculptor  who  executed  the  Damasine  inscriptions  : — 

'  Furius  Dionysius  Filocahis  scripsit  Damasis  pappae  cultor  atque  aniator." 

3.  Near  the  exit,  properly  in  the  Catacomb  of  S.  Lucina,  connected 
with  that  of  Calixtus  by  a  labyrinth  of  galleries,  is  the  tomb  of 
Pope  S.  Cornelius  (2.51-2.52),  the  only  Roman  bishop  down  to  the  time 
of  8.  Sylvester  (314)  who  bore  the  name  of  any  noble  Roman  family, 
and  whose  epitaph  (perhaps  in  consequence)  is  in  Latin,  while  those 
of  the  other  popes  are  in  Greek.  The  tomb  has  no  chapel  of  its 
own,  but  is  a  mere  grave  in  a  gallery,  with  a  rectangular  instead  of 
a  circular  space  above,  as  in  the  cubicula.  Near  the  tomb  are  frag- 
ments of  one  of  the  commemorative  inscriptions  of  S.  Damasus, 
which  has  been  ingeniously  restored  by  De  Rossi  thus  : — 

'  Aspice,  descensu  extructo  tenel)risque  fugatis, 
Cornell  nionumenta  vides  tumulunique  sacratum. 


Tombs  of  the  Sainted  Popes  279 

Hoc  opus  aegroti  Daniasi  praestaiitia  fecit, 
Esset  ut  accessus  iiielior,  populisque  paratum 
Auxiliiim  sancti,  et  valeas  si  fuiulere  pure 
Corde  preces,  Damasus  melior  consiirgere  posset, 
Quem  non  liicis  amor,  tenuit  mage  cura  laboris.' 

'  Behold,  a  way  down  has  been  constructed  and  the  darkness  dispelled ;  you 
see  the  monuments  of  Cornelius  and  his  sacred  tomb.  This  work  the  zeal  of 
Damasus  has  accomplished,  sick  as  he  is,  in  order  that  the  approach  might  be 
better,  and  the  aid  of  the  saint  might  be  made  convenient  for  the  people ;  and 
that,  if  you  will  pour  forth  your  prayers  from  a  ]3ure  heart,  Damasus  may  rise 
up  better  in  health,  though  it  has  not  been  love  of  life,  but  care  for  work,  that 
has  kept  him  (here  below).'  i 

S.  Cornelius  was  banished  under  Gallus  to  Centumcellae — now 
Civita  Vecchia — and  was  brought  back  thence  to  Home  for  mar- 
tyrdom, Sept.  14th,  A.D.  252.  On  the  same  day  of  the  month,  in 
258,  died  his  friend  and  correspondent  S.  Cyprian,  Archbishop  of 
Carthage,"  who  is  consequently  commemorated  by  the  Church  on 
the  same  day  with  S.  Cornelius.  Therefore  also,  on  the  right  of 
the  grave,  are  two  figures  of  bishops  with  inscriptions  declaring 
them  to  be  S.  Cornelius  and  S.  Cyprian.-*  Each  holds  the  book  of 
the  Gospels  in  his  hands,  and  is  clothed  in  pontifical  robes,  'includ- 
ing the  pallium,  which  had  not  yet  been  confined  as  a  mark  of 
distinction  to  metropolitans.^  Beneath  the  pictures  stands  the 
pillar  which  held  one  of  the  vases  of  oil  which  were  always  kept 
burning  before  the  shrines  of  the  martyrs.  Beyond  the  tomb,  at 
the  end  of  the  gallery,  is  another  painting  of  two  bishops,  S. 
Sistus  II.,  martyred  in  the  Catacomb  of  Pretextatus,  and  S.  Optatus, 
who  was  buried  near  him. 

'The  Liber  Pontificalis  says:  "The  Emperor  Decius  gave  judgment  in  the 
case  of  Cornelius,  that  he  should  be  taken  to  the  Temple  of  Mars  extra  inuros, 
and  asked  to  perform  an  act  of  adoration  ;  in  case  of  a  refusal,  that  he  should 
be  beheaded.  This  was  accordingly  done,  and  Cornelius  gave  his  life  for  his 
faith.  Lucina,  a  noble  matron,  assisted  by  members  of  the  clergy,  collected  his 
remains  and  buried  them  in  a  crypt  on  her  own  estate  near  the  cemetery  of 
Calixtus,  on  the  Appian  Way  ;  and  this  happened  on  Sept.  14  (A.D.  2.53)."  As  the 
Cemetery  of  Calixtus  was  the  recognised  burial-place  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome, 
why  was  this  exception  made  to  the  rule  ?  The  reason  is  evident :  the  estate  of 
Lucina  contained  the  family  vault  of  the  Cornelii,  or  at  least  of  a  branch  of  the 
Cornelian  race.' — Lanciani. 

Rossi,  to  whom  we  owe  the  discovery  of  the  Catacombs  as  they 
now  are,  first  saw  the  broken  words,  nelins  Martyr,  on  the  marble 
support  of  a  wine-cask  in  a  neighbouring  osteria,  and  he  at  once 
recognised  a  memorial  of  Cornelius  martyr.  The  Pope  did  not 
believe  in  him,  but  permitted  him  to  have  the  support  he  required 
for  his  investigations.  The  world  called  him  pazzo,  the  Pope  called 
him  a  sognatore.  It  was  a  triumphant  moment  when,  after  he  had 
discovered  the  chapel  with  the  tombs  of  the  popes,  he  brought 

1  '  Roma  Sotterranea,'  p.  180. 

2  Alban  Butler,  viii.  204. 

3  The  remains  of  both,  Cornelius  from  Rome,  and  Cyprian  from  Carthage,  were 
removed  to  Compiogne  by  Charles  le  Chauve. 

■*  'Roma  Sotterranea,'  p.  182. 


280  Walks  in  Rome 

Pins  IX.  to  see  it,  and  said,  '  £eeo,  Santo  Padre,  il  soyno  deUo 
toonatort.^ 

In  poin^  roand  this  catacomb,  and  in  most  of  the  others,  the 
visitor  will  be  shown  a  number  of  rude  paintings,  which  will  be 
explained  to  him  in  various  wavs.  according  to  the  tendencies 
of  his  guide.  The  paintings  may  be  considered  to  consist  of 
three  classes  :  symbolical,  alleeorical  and  biblical,  and  liturgical. 
There  is  little  variety  of  subject — the  same  are  introduced  over 
and  over  again. 

The  symbols  most  frequently  introduced  on  and  over  the  graves 
are : — 

The  A  nfhor.  expressive  of  hope.    Heh.  vi.  10. 

The  Dore,  symbolical  of  the  christian  soul  reieivseu  inini  it.s  e.irthiy  ial>er- 

nacle.     Ps.  Iv.  6. 
The  Sheep,  symbolical  of  the  soul  still  wandering  amiil  the  pastures  and 

deserts  of  earthly  life.  P«.  cxix.  176  ;  Isa.  liii.  6  :  John  x.  14.  .xxi.  15,  16. 17. 
The  I'hcenix.  "  the  palm  liird.'  enibleniatical  of  eternity  and  the  resurrection. 
The  J-'ifh.  typical  of  our  .^ivioiir— from  the  word  ix^<.  formed  by  the  initial 

letters  of  the  titles  of  our  Lonl— Ino-ow  X/xotIk  (**ov  Yio^  Sarrpij — 'Jesus 

Christ,  the  Son  of  Gi-kI.  the  Sariour.' 
The  Ship,  representinji  the  Church  militant,  sometimes  seen  carried  on  the 

liack  of  the  tish. 
Bread,  represented  with  flsh,  sometimes  carried  in  a  basket  on  ita  back, 

sometimes  with  it  on  a  table— in  allusion  to  the  multiplication  of  the 

loaves  and  fishes.     In  ancient  times  a  meal  was  not  thought  complete 

with"Ut  flsh.  whenever  it  could  lie  had  ;  'bread  and  fish"  went  together 

like  'bread  and  butter'  in  England.' 
A  Ffmale  Fi'jiire  Prayiiuj.  an  'Orante' — in  allusion  to  the  Church. 
A  Vine,  also  in  allusion  to  the  Church.    Pa.  lixx.  8 ;  la*,  v.  1. 
An  Olire  Br'tneh.  as  a  sign  of  peace. 
A  Palm  Braneh,  as  a  sign  of  victory  and  martyrdom.     Rev.  vii.  9. 

Of  the  AUerjorical  and  Biblical  Repreientations,  The  Good  Shepherd 
requires  an  especial  notice  from  the  importance  which  is  given  to 
it  and  its  frequent  introduction  in  Catacomb  art,  both  in  sculpture 
and  painting. 

•  By  far  the  most  interesting  of  the  early  christian  paintings  is  that  of  our 
"ivi  ,!ir  as  the  Good  Shepherd,  which  is  alni'>st  invariably  painted  <>n  the  central 
-:  .\  •■  "f  the  dome  or  cupola,  suhjetts  of  minor  interest  being  disposed  around  it 
r.  T:ipnrtments.  precisely  in  the  style,  as  regards  both  the  arrangement  and 
'\       ■    ■      f  the  heathen  catacombs. 

H  V- ;  resented  as  a  youth  in  a  shepherd's  frock  and  sandals,  carrying  the 
■^  '■  ■;■-  --':.•  vji  on  his  shoulders,  or  leaning  on  his  staff  (the  syml)ol,  according  to 
S.  .A.Uiiustine'*.  of  the  christian  hierarchy t,  while  the  sheep  feed  around  or  lo«jk 
up  at  him.  .''ometimes  he  is  represented  seated  in  the  midst  of  his  flock,  playing 
on  a  shepherd's  pipe.— in  a  few  instances,  in  the  oldest  catacombs,  he  is  intro- 
duced in  the  character  of  Orpheus,  surrounded  by  wild  beasts  enrapt  by  the 
melody  of  his  lyre— Orpheus  l>eing  then  supposed  to  have  been  a  prophet  or 
precursor  of  the  .Me&siah.  The  background  usually  exhibits  a  landscape  or 
meadow,  sometimes  planted  with  olive-trees,  doves  resting  in  their  branches, 
«ynil>olical  of  the  peace  of  the  faithful ;  in  others,  as  in  a  fresco  preserved  in  the 
Museum  Christianum,  the  palm  of  victory  is  intrc-duced,— but  such  combinations 
are  endless.  In  one  or  two  instances  the  surroundins  compartments  are  filled 
with  pers^.niflcations  of  the  Seasons,  apt  emblems  of  human  life,  whether  natural 
or  spiritual. 


1  See  Stanley  s  '  Christian  Inttitutiofu,'  50,  51. 


Symbols  of  the  Catacombs  281 

'The  subject  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  I  am  sorry  to  add.  is  not  of  Roman,  but 
Greek  origin,  and  was  adapted  from  a  statue  of  Mercury  carrying  a  goat  at 
Tana^rra.  mentioned  by  Pausanias.  The  cliristian  composition  approximates  to 
its  original  more  nearly  in  the  few  instances  where  our  Saviour  is  represented 
carrying  a  goat,  emblematical  of  the  scapegoat  of  the  wilderness.  Singularly 
enough,  though  of  Greek  parentage,  and  recommended  to  the  Byzantines  by 
Constantine,  who  erected  a  statue  of  the  Good  Shejiherd  in  the  forum  of  Con- 
stantinople, the  subject  did  not  become  popular  among  them  :  they  seem,  at 
least,  to  have  tacitly  abandoned  it  to  Rome.'— X,o/-d  Aint/xni/'x  '  Clirintian  Art.' 

'The  Good  Shepherd  seems  to  have  been  quite  the  favourite  subject.  We 
cannot  go  tlirough  any  part  of  the  Catacombs,  or  turn  over  any  collection  of 
ancient  christian  monuments,  without  coming  across  it  again  and  again.  We 
know  from  TertuUian  that  it  was  often  designed  upon  chalices.  We  find  it  our- 
selves painted  in  fresco  upon  the  roofs  and  walls  of  the  sepulchral  chambers; 
rudely  scratched  upon  gravestones,  or  more  carefully  sculptured  on  sarcophagi ; 
traced  in  irold  upon  glass,  moulded  on  lamps,  engraved  on  rings  ;  and,  in  a  word, 
represented  on  every  species  of  christian  monument  that  has  come  down  to  us. 
Of  course,  amid  such  a  multitude  of  examples,  there  is  considerable  variety  of 
treatment.  We  cannot,  however,  aijpreciate  the  suggestion  of  Kugler,  that  this 
frequent  repetition  of  the  suliject  is  probably  to  be  attributed  to  the  capabilities 
which  it  possessed  in  an  artistic  point  of  view.  Rather  it  was  selected  bei.ause 
it  expressed  the  whole  sum  and  substance  of  the  christian  dispensation.  In  the 
language  even  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  action  of  Divine  Providence  upon  the 
world  is  frequently  expressed  by  images  and  allegories  borrowed  from  pastoral 
life  ;  God  is  the  Shepherd,  and  men  are  His  sheep.  But  in  a  still  more  special 
way  our  Divine  Redeemer  offers  Himself  to  our  regards  as  the  Good  Shepherd. 
He  came  down  from  His  eternal  throne  into  this  wilderness  of  the  world  to  seek 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  whole  human  race,  and  having  brought  them  together  into 
one  fold  on  earth,  thence  to  transport  them  into  the  ever-verdant  pastures  of 
Paradise.' — '  Roma  Sotterranea.' 

The  fact  that  the  Good  Shepherd  was  sometimes  represented  as 
bearing:  a  kid,  not  a  lamb  ;  a  goat,  not  a  sheep,  upon  his  shoulder, 
called  forth  an  indignant  remonstrance  from  TertuUian. 

'  He  saves  the  sheep— the  goats  He  doth  not  save  : 
So  spake  the  fierce  TertuUian. 

But  she  sigh'd — 
The  infant  Church  !  of  love  she  felt  the  tide 
Stream  on  her  from  her  Lord's  yet  recent  grave. 
And  then  she  smil'd,  and  in  the  Catacombs, 
With  eyes  suffused,  but  heart  inspired  true. 
She  her  Good  Shepherds  hasty  image  drew, 
And  on  His  shoulders  not  a  lamb,  but  kid.' 

— Matthnu  Arnold. 

Other  biblical  subjects  are — from  the  Old  Testament  (those 
of  Noah,  Moses,  Daniel,  and  Jonah  being  the  only  ones  at  all 
common) : — 

1.  The  Fall.    Adam  and  Eve  on  either  side  of  a  Tree  of  Knowledge,  round 

which  the  serpent  is  coiled.  Sometimes,  instead  of  this,  'Our  Saviour 
(as  the  representative  of  the  Deity)  stands  between  them,  condemning 
them,  and  offering  a  lamb  to  Eve  and  a  sheaf  of  corn  to  Adam,  to  signify 
the  doom  of  themselves  and  their  posterity  to  delve  and  to  spin  through 
all  future  ages.' 

2.  The  offering  of  Cain  and  Abel.    They  present  a  lamb  and  sheaf  of  corn  to 

a  seated  figure  of  the  Almighty. 

3.  Noah  in  the  Ark,  represented  as  a  box— a  dove,  bearing  an  olive  branch, 

flies  towards  him.  Interpreted  to  express  the  doctrine  that  'the 
faithful  having  obtained  remission  of  their  sins  through  baptism,  have 
received  from  the  Holy  Spirit  the  gift  of  divine  peace,  and  are  saved  in 


282  Walks  in  Rome 

the  mystical  ark  of  the  Churdi  from  tlie  destruction  wliicli  awaits  the 
world."' 1    (Acts  ii.  47.) 

4.  Sacrifice  of  Isaac. 

r..  Tassavte  of  the  Ked  Sea. 

(i.  Moses  receiving  tlie  Law. 

V.  Moses  striking  water  from  the  rock  (very  common). 

5.  Moses  pointing'  to  the  i)ots  of  inaiitia. 

0.  Klijali  going  up  to  heaven  in  a  chiiriot  of  fire. 

HI.  Tlie  Tliree  Children  in  the  fiery  furnace— very  common  as  symholical  of 
martyrdom. 

11.  Daniel  in  tlie  lions"  den  ;  generally  a  naked  figure  with  hands  extended, 

and  a  lion  on  cither  side  (most  common— as  an  encouragement  to  chris- 
tian sufferers). 

12.  Jonah  swallowed  up  by  the  whale,  represented  as  a  strange  kind  of  sea- 

horse. 
^^.i.  Jonah  disgorged  by  the  whale. 

14.  Jonah  under  the  gourd  ;  or,  according  to  the  Vulgate,  under  the  ivy. 

15.  Jonah  lamenthig  for  the  deatli  of  the  gourd. 

These  four  su))jccts  from  the  story  of  Jonah  are  constantly  repeated,  per- 
haps as  encouragement  to  tlie  Christians  suffering  from  the  wickedness 
of  Rome— the  modern  Ni'ieveli,  which  they  were  to  warn  and  pray  for. 

Subjects  from  the  Aew  Testament  are  : — 

1.  The  Nativity— the  ox  and  the  ass  kneeling. 

2.  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi— repeatedly  placed  in  juxtaposition  with  the 

story  of  the  Three  Children. 

3.  Our  Saviour  turning  water  into  wine. 

4.  Our  Saviour  conversing  with  the  woman  of  Samaria. 

5.  Our  Saviour  healing  the  paralytic  man— who  takes  up  his  bed.    This  is 

very  common. 
C.  Our  Saviour  healing  the  woman  with  the  is.sue  of  blood. 

7.  Our  Saviour  multiplying  the  loaves  and  fishes. 

8.  Our  Saviour  healing  the  daughter  of  the  woman  of  Canaan. 

9.  Our  Saviour  healing  the  blind  man. 

10.  The  liaising  of  Lazarus,  who  appears  at  a  door  in  his  grave-clothes,  while 

Christ  with  a  wand  stands  before  it.  This  is  the  New  Testament  subject 
oftenest  introduced.  It  is  constantly  placed  in  juxtaposition  with  a 
picture  of  Moses  striking  the  rock.  'The  two  subjects  may  be  intended 
to  represent  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  christian  course,  "  the  fountain 
of  water  springing  up  to  life  everlasting."  God's  grace  and  the  gift  of 
faith  being  typified  Ijy  the  water  flowing  from  the  rock,  "which  was 
Christ,"  and  life  everlasting  by  the  victory  over  death  and  the  second 
life  vouchsafed  to  Lazarus.'  - 

11.  Our  Saviour's  triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem. 

12.  Our  Saviour  giving  the  keys  to  Peter  (very  rare). 

13.  Our  Saviour  predicting  the  denial  of  Peter. 

14.  The  denial  of  Peter. 

15.  Our  Saviour  before  Pilate. 

16.  S.  Peter  taken  to  prison. 

These  last  six  subjects  are  only  represented  on  torabs.^ 

The  class  of  paintings  sliown  as  Litnrgicid  are  less  definite  than 
these.  In  the  Catacombs  of  Calixtus  several  obscure  paintings  are 
shown  (in  cubicula  anterior  to  the  middle  of  the  third  century), 
which  are  said  to  have  reference  to  the  sacrament  of  baptism. 
Pictures  of  the  paralytic  carrying  his  bed  are  identified  by  some 
Roman  Catholic  authorities  with   the  sacrament  of  penance  (!). 


1  '  Roma  Sotterranea,'  p.  242. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  247. 

3  Lord  Lindsay's  '  Christian  Art,'  i.  46. 


Catacomb  of  S.  Pretextatus  283 

Bosio  believed  that  in  the  Catacomb  of  S.  Priscilla  be  had  found 
paintings  which  illustrated  the  sacrament  of  ordination.  Repre- 
sentations undoubtedly  exist  which  illustrate  the  agape  or  love-feast 
of  the  primitive  Church. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  Via  Appia  from  S.  Calixtus  (generally 
entered  on  the  left  of  the  road  leading  to  S.  Urbano)  is,  in  a 
vineyard,  the  rude  entrance  to  the  Catacomb  of  S.  Pretextatus, 
interesting  as  being  the  known  burial-place  of  several  martyrs. 
Long  galleries,  dry  and  airy,  though  very  narrow,  are  first  lined  with 
rugged  tufa,  then  masonry  and  brickwork  appear,  then  tombs, 
inscriptions,  and  remains  of  columns,  till  we  reach  the  large  crypt 
discovered  in  1857,  built  with  solid  masonry  and  lined  with  Greek 
marble. 

'  The  workmanship  points  to  early  date,  and  specimens  of  pagan  architecture 
in  the  same  neiglibourhood  enable  us  to  fix  tlie  middle  of  the  latter  half  of  the 
second  century  (A.D.  175)  as  a  very  probable  date  for  its  erection.  The  Acts  of 
the  saints  explain  to  us  why  it  was  built  with  l>ricks  and  not  hewn  out  of  the 
rock — viz..  because  the  Christian  who  made  it  (S.  Marmenia)  had  caused  it  to  be 
excavated  immediately  below  her  own  house.;  and  now  that  we  see  it,  we  under- 
stand the  precise  meaning  of  the  words  used  by  the  itineraries  describing  it — 
viz.,  "a  large  cavern,  most  firmly  built."  The  vault  of  the  chapel  is  most 
elaborately  painted,  in  a  style  by  no  means  inferior  to  the  best  classical  produc- 
tions of  the  age.  It  is  divided  into  four  bands  of  wreaths,  one  of  roses,  another 
of  corn-sheaves,  a  third  of  vine  leaves  and  grapes  (and  in  all  these  Inrds  are 
introduced  visiting  their  young  in  nests),  and  the  last  or  highest,  of  leaves  of 
laurel  or  the  bay  tree.  Of  course  these  severally  represent  the  seasons  of  spring, 
summer,  autumn,  and  winter.  The  last  is  a  well-known  figure  or  symbol 
of  death  ;  and  probably  the  laurel,  as  the  token  of  victory,  was  intended  to 
represent  the  new  and  christian  idea  of  the  everlasting  reward  of  a  blessed  im- 
mortality. Below  these  bands  is  another  border,  more  indistinct,  in  which 
reapers  are  gathering  in  the  corn  ;  and  at  the  back  of  the  arch  is  a  rural  scene, 
of  which  the  central  figure  is  the  Good  Shepherd  carrying  a  sheep  upon  His 
shoulders.  This,  however,  has  been  destroyed  by  graves  pierced  through  the 
wall  and  the  rock  behind  it,  from  the  eager  desire  to  bury  the  dead  of  a  later 
generation  as  near  as  possible  to  the  tomljs  of  the  martyrs.  As  De  Rossi  pro- 
ceeded to  examine  these  graves  in  detail,  he  could  hardly  believe  his  eyes  when 
he  read  around  the  edge  of  one  of  them  these  words  and  fragments  of  words  : 
Mi  Hefrir/eri  Januariits  Ar/apetus  FeUeissiin  martin es — "  Januarius,  Agapetus, 
Felicissimus,  martyrs,  refresh  the  soul  of  .  .  ,"  The  words  had  been  scratched 
upon  the  mortar  while  it  was  yet  fresh,  fifteen  centuries  ago,  as  the  prayer  of 
some  bereaved  relative  for  the  soul  of  him  whom  they  were  burying  here,  and 
now  they  revealed  to  the  antiquarian  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  secret  he  was 
in  quest  of — viz.,  the  place  of  burial  of  the  saints  whose  aid  is  here  invoked ; 
for  the  numerous  examples  to  be  seen  in  other  cemeteries  warrant  us  in  con- 
cluding that  the  bodies  of  the  saints,  to  whose  intercession  the  soul  of  the 
deceased  is  here  recommended,  were  at  the  time  of  his  burial  lying  at  no  great 
distance.' — '  Roma  Sotterranea.' 

The  S.  Januarius  buried  here  was  the  eldest  of  the  seven  sons 
of  S.  Felicitas,  martyred  July  10,  A.D.  162.  S.  Agapetus  and  S. 
Felicissimus  were  deacons  of  Pope  Sixtns  II.,  who  were  martyred 
together  with  him  and  S.  Pretextatus  ^  close  to  this  catacomb  in 
the  Schola  of  S.  Fabianus,  because  Sixtus  II.  'had  set  at  nought 
the  commands  of  the  Emperor  Valerian.'  - 


1  Alban  Butler,  viii.  148. 

2  Lib.  Pant. 


384  Walks  in  Rome 

A  imitilatcd  inscription  of  S.  Damasus  in  the  Catacomb  of 
Calixtus,  near  the  tomb  of  Cornelius,  thus  records  the  death  of 
Pope  Sixtus:  — 

'  Tempore  <iuo  ^ladius  secuit  pia  viscera  Matris 
llic  pcisitus  rector  coelestia  jussa  docel)ara. 
Advcniuiit  subito,  rapiunt  qui  forte  sedenteni  ; 
,Militil)us  missis,  popnli  tunc  colla  dedere. 
Mox  sil)i  cognovit  senior  quis  toUere  vellet 
Palniani,  se(|ut'  suumque  caput  prior  obtulit  ipse, 
Iiupaticns  feritas  posset  lie  laedcre  (luemquam. 
Ostendit  Christus  reddit  qui  praemia  vitae 
Pastoris  meritum,  numerum  gregis  ipse  tuetur.' 

'  At  the  time  when  the  sword  pierced  the  lieart  of  our  mother  (Church),  I,  its 
ruler,  buried  liere,  was  teaching  llie  things  of  lieaven.  Suddenly  tliey  came,  they 
seized  me  seated  as  I  was  ; — thesiddicis  liciiigsentin,  the  people  gave  theirnecks 
(to  the  slaughter).  Soon  the  old  man  saw  who  was  willing  to  bear  away  the  palm 
from  himself,  and  was  the  first  to  offer  himself  and  his  own  head,  fearing  lest  the 
blow  should  fall  on  any  one  else.  Christ,  who  awards  the  rewards  of  life,  recog- 
nises the  merit  of  the  pastor,  He  Himself  is  preserving  the  number  of  His  flock.' 

An  adjoining  crypt,  considered  to  date  from  A.D.  130,  is  believed 
to  be  the  burial-place  of  S.  Quirinus.  Above  this  catacomb  are 
remains  of  two  basilicas,  erected  in  honour  of  S.  Zeno,  and  of 
Tibertius,  Valerian,  and  Maximus,  companions  of  S.  Cecilia  in 
martyrdom. 

A  touching  and  beautiful  service  is  held  here  on  March  24th, 
when  liigh  mass  is  celebrated  in  the  subterranean  chapel,  and  the 
martyr's  hymn  is  sung  over  their  graves. 

Behind  the  Catacomb  of  S.  Calixtus,  on  the  right  of  the  Via 
Ardeatina,  is  the  Catacomb  of  SS.  Nereo  ed  Achilleo.  Close  to  its 
entrance  is  the  farm  of  Tor  Marancia,  where  are  some  ruins,  be- 
lieved to  be  remains  of  the  Villa  Amaranthiana,  which  belonged  to 
Flavia  Domitilla.  This  celebrated  member  of  the  early  christian 
Church  was  daughter  of  the  Flavia  Domitilla  who  was  sister  of  the 
Emperor  Domitian,  and  wife  of  Titus  Flavius  Clemens,  son  of  the 
Flavius  Sabinus  who  was  brother  of  the  Emperor  Vespasian.  Her 
two  sons  were  Vespasian  Junior  and  Domitian  Junior,  who  were 
intended  to  succeed  to  the  throne,  and  to  whom  Quintilian  was 
appointed  as  tutor  by  the  emperor.  Dion  Cassius  narrates  that 
'Domitian  put  to  death  several  persons,  and  amongst  them  Flavius 
Clemens  the  consul,  although  he  was  his  nephew,  and  although  he 
had  Flavia  Domitilla  for  his  wife,  who  was  also  related  to  the 
emperor.  They  were  both  accused  of  atheism,  on  which  charge 
many  others  also  had  been  condemned,  going  after  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Jews  :  and  some  of  them  were  put  to  death, 
and  others  had  their  goods  confiscated  ;  but  Domitilla  was  only 
banished  to  Pandataria.' '  This  Flavia  Domitilla  is  frequently  con- 
fused with  her  niece  of  the  same  name,-  whose  banishment  is  men- 
tioned by  Eusebius,  when  he  says  :   '  The  teaching  of  our  faith  had 

1  Now  Santa  Maria,  an  island  near  Casta. 
'^  Alban  Butler,  v.  205. 


Catacomb  of  SS.  Nereo  ed  Achilleo  285 

by  this  time  shone  so  far  and  wide,  that  even  jDaj^an  historians  did 
not  refuse  to  insert  in  their  narratives  some  account  of  the  persecu- 
tion and  the  martyrdoms  that  were  suffered  in  it.  Some,  too,  have 
marked  the  time  accurately,  mentioning,  amonsjst  many  others, 
in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Domitian  (a.d.  ii7),  Klavia  Domitilla,  the 
daughter  of  a  sister  of  a  Flavius  Clemens,  one  of  the  Roman  consuls 
of  those  days,  who,  for  her  testimony  for  Christ,  was  punished  by 
exile  to  the  island  of  Pontia.'  It  was  this  younger  Domitilla  who 
was  accompanied  in  her  exile  by  her  two  christian  servants,  Nereus 
and  Achilles,  whose  banishment  is  spoken  of  by  S.  Jerome  as  '  a 
lifelong  martyrdom ' — whose  cell  was  afterwards  visited  by  S. 
Paula,!  and  who,  according  to  the  Acts  of  SS.  Nereus  and  Achilles, 
was  brought  back  to  the  mainland  to  be  burnt  alive  at  Terracina, 
because  she  refused  to  sacrifice  to  idols.  The  relics  of  Domitilla, 
with  those  of  her  servants,  were  preserved  in  the  catacomb  under 
the  villa  which  had  belonged  to  her  christian  aunt. 

Receiving  as  evidence  the  story  of  S.  Domitilla,  this  catacomb 
must  be  looked  upon  as  the  oldest  christian  cemetery  in  existence. 
Its  galleries  were  widened  and  strengthened  by  John  I.  (523-52(;). 
A  chamber  near  the  entrance  is  pointed  out  as  the  burial-place 
of  S.  Petronilla,  whose  body  was  removed  to  the  Vatican  by  Paul  I. 

'  The  sepulchre  of  SS.  Nereus  and  Achilles  was  in  all  probability  in  that  chapel 
to  which  we  descend  by  so  magnificent  a  staircase,  and  which  is  illuminated  by 
so  fine  a  luminarc  ;  for  that  this  is  the  central  point  of  attraction  in  the  cemetery 
is  clear,  both  from  the  staircase  and  the  luniinare  just  mentioned,  as  also  from 
the  grreater  width  of  the  adjacent  galleries  and  other  similar  tokens.  Here,  then, 
S.  Gregory  the  Great  delivered  his  twenty-eighth  homily  (which  Baronius  errone- 
ously supposes  to  have  been  delivered  in  the  ChiU'ch  of  SS.  Nereo  ed  Achilleo,  to 
which  the  bodies  of  the  saints  were  not  yet  removed),  in  which  he  says  :  "  These 
saints,  before  whose  tomb  we  are  assembled,  despised  the  world  and  trampled  it 
under  their  feet,  when  peace,  plenty,  riches,  and  health  gave  it  charms." 

'  There  is  a  higher  and  more  ancient  piano  in  which  coins  and  medals  of  the 
first  two  centuries  and  inscriptions  of  great  value  have  been  recently  disccjvered. 
Some  of  these  inscriptions  may  still  be  seen  in  one  of  the  chambers  near  the 
bottom  of  the  staircase  ;  they  are  both  Latin  and  Greek  ;  sometimes  both 
languages  are  mixed ;  and  in  one  or  two  instances  Latin  words  are  written  in 
Geeek  characters.  Many  of  these  monuments  are  of  the  deepest  importance 
from  both  an  antiquarian  and  a  religious  point  of  view  ;  in  archaeology,  as  show- 
ing the  practice  of  private  Christians  in  the  first  ages  to  make  the  sul)terranean 
chambers  at  their  own  expense  and  for  their  own  use,  eg. — "  M.  Aurelius 
Restutus  made  this  subterranean  for  himself  and  those  of  his  family  who  believed 
in  the  Lord,"  where  both  the  triple  names  and  the  limitation  introduced  at  the 
end  (which  shows  that  many  of  his  family  were  still  pagan)  are  unquestionably 
proofs  of  very  high  antiquity.' — A'orthcote's  '  Roman  Catacombs,'  p.  103,  &c. 

Among  the  most  remarkable  paintings  in  this  catacomb  are, 
Orpheus  with  his  lyre,  surrounded  by  birds  and  beasts  who  are 
charmed  with  his  music  ;  Elijah  ascending  to  heaven  in  a  chariot 
drawn  by  four  horses  ;  and  the  portrait  of  our  Lord. 

'  The  head  and  bust  of  our  Lord  form  a  medallion,  occupying  the  centre  of  the 
roof  in  the  same  cubieulum  where  Orpheus  is  represented.  This  painting,  in 
consequence  of  the  description  given  of  it  by  Kugler  (who  misnamed  the  cata- 
comb S.   Calixtus),  is  often   eagerly  sought   after  by  strangers  visitiug  the 


1  Alban  Butler,  v.  205. 


286  Walks  in  Rome 

Cntaconiljs.  It  is  only  just,  liowevtr,  to  add,  that  they  arc  generally  illsap- 
jiointed.  Kiigler  supposed  it  to  be  tlie  oldest  portrait  of  our  Blessed  Saviour  in 
existence,  hut  we  douht  if  there  is  sullicient  authority  for  such  a  statement,  lie 
describes  it  in  these  words  :  "Tlie  face  is  oval,  with  a  straight  nose,  arched  eye- 
brows, a  smooth  and  rather  high  forehead,  the  expression  serious  and  mild  ;  the 
hair,  parted  on  the  forehead,  flows  in  long  curls  down  the  shoulders  ;  the  beard 
is  nilt  thick,  but  short  and  divided  :  the  age  between  thirty  and  forty."  But  this 
description  is  too  minute  and  i)recise,  too  artistic,  for  tlie  original,  as  it  is  now 
to  be  seen.  A  lively  imagination  may,  perhaps,  supi)ly  the  details  descrilied  by 
our  author,  but  the  eye  certainly  fails  to  distinguish  tht-m.'—'  lioiiia  Sutteiranca,' 
.p.  253. 

A  rich  cubiculum  discovered  here  in  1881  bears  the  name  of 
Ampliatus,  sometimes  supposed  to  be  the  friend  mentioned  by 
S.  Paul  in  Rom.  xvi.  8 — 'Salute  Ampliatus,  my  beloved  in  the 
Lord.' 

Approached  by  a  separate  entrance  on  the  slope  of  the  hillside  is 
a  sepulchral  chamber,  whi-h  De  Rossi  considered  to  have  been  the 
Burial-place  of  S.  Domitilla. 

'  It  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  remarkable  christian  monuments 
yet  discovered.  Its  position,  close  to  the  highway;  its  front  of  fine  brickwork, 
with  a  cornice  of  terra-cotta,  with  the  usual  space  for  an  inscription  (which  has 
now,  alas  I  perished);  the  spaciousness  of  its  gallery,  with  its  four  or  five  separate 
niches  prepared  for  as  many  sarcophagi  ;  the  tine  stucco  on  the  wall ;  the  emi- 
nently classical  character  of  its  decoraticjiis  ;  all  these  things  make  it  perfectly 
clear  that  it  was  the  monument  of  a  christian  family  of  distinction,  excavated  at 
great  cost,  and  without  the  slightest  attempt  at  concealment.  In  passing  from 
the  vestibule  into  the  catacomb,  we  recognise  the  transition  from  the  use  of  the 
sarcophagus  to  that  of  tlie  common  Inndus;  for  the  first  two  or  three  graves  on 
either  side,  though  really  mere  shelves  in  the  wall,  are  so  disguised  by  painting 
on  the  outside  as  to  present  to  passers-by  the  complete  outward  appearance  of  a 
sarcophagus.  Some  few  of  these  graves  are  marked  with  the  nanus  of  the  dead, 
written  in  black  on  the  largest  tiles,  and  the  inscriptions  on  the  other  graves  are 
all  of  the  simplest  and  oldest  form.  Lastly,  the  whole  of  the  vaulted  roof  is 
covered  with  the  most  exquisitely  giaceful  designs,  of  branches  of  the  vine  (with 
birds  and  winged  genii  among  them)  trailing  with  all  the  freedom  of  nature  over 
the  whole  walls,  not  fearing  any  interruption  by  graves,  nor  confined  by  any  of 
those  lines  of  geometrical  symmetry  which  characterise  similar  productions  in 
the  next  century.  Traces  also  of  landscapes  may  be  seen  here  and  there,  which 
are  of  rare  occurrence  in  the  Cataconiljs,  though  they  may  be  seen  in  the  cham- 
bers assigned  by  De  Rossi  to  SS.  Nereus  and  Achilles.  The  Good  Shepherd,  an 
agape,  or  the  heavenly  feast,  a  man  fishing,  and  Daniel  in  the  lions'  den,  are  the 
chief  historical  or  allegorical  representations  of  christian  mysteries  which  are 
painted  here.  I'lifortunately  they  have  lieen  almost  destroyed  by  persons 
attempting  to  detach  them  from  the  wall.' — '  Jioma  Sottcrranca,'  p.  70. 

In  1871  a  basilica  was  discovered  here,  once  divided  into  nave 
and  aisles  by  two  rows  of  columns,  and  on  a  marble  fragment  a 
relief  representing  the  execution  of  a  martyr — a  young  man  bound 
to  a  stake  (shaped  like  a  cross,  and  surmounted  by  a  martyr  crown) 
being  stabbed  by  a  soldier.  Tlie  name  of  the  martyr,  Acilleus,  is 
engraved  above. 

A  road  to  the  left  now  leads  to  the  Via  Appia  Nuova,  piassing 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  hence,  a  turn  on  the  left  to  the  ruin 
generally  known  as  the  Temple  of  Bacchus,  from  an  altar  dedicated 
to  Bacchus  which  was  found  there,  but  considered  by  modern  anti- 


Temple  of  Bacchus  287 

quaries  as  a  temple  of  Ceres  and  Proserpine.  This  building  has 
been  comparatively  saved  from  the  destruction  which  has  befallen 
its  neighbours,  by  having  been  consecrated  as  a  church — S.  Urbane 
alia  Cafifarella — in  A.D.  820  by  Pope  Paschal  I.  in  honour  of  his 
sainted  predecessor  Urban  I.,  A.D.  22(5  (whose  pontificate  was 
chiefly  passed  in  refuge  in  the  neighbouring  Catacomb  of  S.  Calixtus), 
because  of  a  belief  that  he  was  wont  to  resort  hither. 

A  chapel  at  a  great  depth  below  the  church  is  shown  as  that  in 
which  S.  Urban  baptized  and  celebrated  mass.  A  curious  fresco 
here  represents  the  Virgin  between  S.  Urban  and  S.  John. 

Around  the  upper  part  of  the  interior  are  a  much  injured  series 
of  frescoes,  given  by  the  same  Beno  de  Rapiza  to  whom  the  pictures 
in  the  lower  church  of  S.  Clemente  are  due — comprising  the  life  of 
Christ  from  the  Annunciation  to  the  descent  into  Hades,  and  the 
life  of  S.  Cecilia  and  her  husband  Valerian,  ending  in  tlie  burial  of 
Cecilia  by  Pope  Urban  in  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus,  and  the  story 
of  the  martyred  Urban  I.  In  the  picture  of  the  Crucifixion,  the 
thieves  have  their  names,  '  Calpurnius  and  Longinus.'  The  frescoes 
were  altered  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  suit  the  views  of  the 
Roman  Church,  keys  being  placed  in  the  hand  of  Peter,  &c.  Sets 
of  drawings  taken  before  and  eifter  the  alterations,  are  preserved  in 
the  Barberini  Library,  and  curiously  show  the  difference. 

A  winding  path  leads  from  S.  Urbano  into  the  valley.  Here,  be- 
side the  Almo  rivulet,  is  a  ruined  Nymphaeum  containing  a  muti- 
lated statue  of  a  river-god,  which  was  called  '  the  Grotto  of  Egeria,' 
till  a  few  years  ago,  when  the  discovery  of  the  true  site  of  the  Porta 
Capena  fixed  that  of  the  grotto  within  the  walls.  The  fine  grove 
of  old  ilex  trees  on  the  hillside — il  Bosco  Sacro — was  at  the  same 
time  pointed  out  as  the  sacred  grove  of  Egeria.  ^ 

'  E'^reria  !  sweet  creation  of  some  heart 
Which  found  no  mortal  resting-place  so  fair 
As  thine  ideal  breast ;  whate'er  thou  art 
Or  wert,  —  a  young  Aurora  of  the  air  ; 
The  nynipholepsy  of  some  fond  despair ; 
Or,  it  might  be,  a  beauty  of  the  earth, 
AVho  found  a  more  than  common  votary  there 
Too  much  adoring  ;  whatsoe'er  thy  birth, 
Thou  wert  a  l)eautiful  thought,  and  softly  bodied  forth. 

The  mosses  of  thy  fountain  still  are  sprinkled 
With  thine  Elysian  water-drops  ;  the  face 
Of  thy  cave-guarded  spring,  with  years  unwrinkled, 
Reflects  the  meek-eyed  genius  of  the  place,  ^ 

Whose  green,  wild  margin  now  no  more  erase 
Art's  works;  nor  must  the  delicate  waters  sleep, 
Prisoned  in  marble,  bubbling  from  the  base 
Of  the  cleft  statue,  with  a  gentle  leap 
The  rill  runs  o'er,  and  round  fern,  flowers,  and  ivy  creep 

Fantastically  tangled  ;  the  green  hills 

Are  clothed  with  early  blossoms,  through  the  grass 

The  quick-eyed  lizard  rustles,  and  the  bills 

Of  summer-birds  sing  welcome  as  ye  pass  ; 

1  It  is  on  the  site  of  a  very  ancient  grove  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  Annia 
llegilla. 


288  Walks  in  Rome 

Flowers  fresh  in  hue,  and  many  in  their  class, 
Implore  the  pausing  step,  and  with  their  dyes 
Dance  in  the  soft  breeze  in  a  fairy  mass  ; 
The  sweetness  of  the  violet's  deep  blue  eyes, 
Kiss'd  by  the  breath  of  heaven,  seems  coloured  by  its  skies.' 

—Byron,  '  Childe  Harold.' 

It  is  now  known  that  this  Nymphaeum  and  the  valley  in  which 
it  stands  belonged  to  the  suburban  villa  called  Triopio,  of  Herodes 
Atticus,  whose  romantic  story  is  handed  down  to  us  through  two 
Greek  inscriptions  in  the  possession  of  the  l>orghese  faniily,  and  is 
further  illustrated  by  the  writings  of  Philostratus  and  Pausanias. 

A  wealthy  Greek  named  Ipparchus  offended  his  Government  and  lost  all  his 
wealth  by  confiscation,  but  the  family  fortunes  were  redeemed  throuRh  the 
discovery  by  his  son  Atticus  of  a  vast  treasure,  concealed  in  a  small  piece  of 
ground  which  remained  to  then,  close  to  the  rock  of  the  Acropolis.  Dreadin;,' 
the  avarice  of  his  fellow-citizens,  Atticus  sent  at  once  to  >'erva,  the  then 
emperor,  telling  him  of  the  discovery,  and  requesting  his  orders  as  to  what  he 
was  to  do  with  the  treasure.  Nerva  replied  that  he  was  welcome  to  keep  it  and 
use  it  as  he  pleased.  Not  yet  satisfied  or  feelint?  sufficiently  sure  of  the  protec- 
tion of  the  emperor,  Atticus  again  applied  to  him,  saying  that  the  treasure  was 
far  too  vast  for  the  use  of  a  person  in  a  private  station  of  life,  and  asking  how 
he  was  to  use  it.  The  emperor  again  replied  that  the  treasure  was  his  own  and 
due  to  his  own  good  fortune,  and  that  '  what  he  could  not  use  he  might  abuse.' 
Atticus  then  entered  securely  into  the  possession  of  his  wealth,  which  he  l)e- 
queathed  to  his  son  Ilerodes,  who  used  his  fortune  magnificently  in  his  l)Ountiful 
charities,  in  the  encouragement  of  literature  and  art  throughout  both  Greece 
and  Italy,  and  (best  appreciated  of  all  by  the  Greeks)  in  the  splendour  of  the 
public  games  which  he  gave. 

Early  iu  the  reign  of  Antoninus  Pins,  Herodes  Atticus  removed  to  Rome, 
where  he  was  appointed  professor  of  rhetoric  to  Marcus  Aurelius  and  Lucius 
Verus,  the  two  atlopted  sons  of  the  emperor,  and  where  he  attained  the  con- 
sulship in  A.D.  143.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  fell  in  love  with  Annia  Kegilla,  a 
Ijeautiful  and  wealthy  heiress,  and  in  spite  of  the  violent  opposition  of  her 
brother  Annius  Attilius  Braduas,  who,  belonging  to  the  Julian  family,  and 
claiming  an  imaginary  descent  from  Venus  and  Anchises,  looked  upon  the 
marriage  as  a  mesalliance,  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  her  hand.  Part  of  the 
wealth  which  Annia  Regilla  brought  to  her  husband  was  the  Valle  Caffarelle 
and  its  nymphaeum. 

For  some  years  Herodes  Atticus  and  Annia  Regilla  enjoyed  the  perfection 
of  married  happiness  in  this  beautiful  valley;  but  shortly  before  the  expected 
birth  of  her  fifth  child,  she  died  very  suddenly,  leaving  her  husband  almost 
frantic  with  grief  and  refusing  every  consolation.  He  was  roused,  however, 
from  his  first  anguish  by  his  brother-in-law,  Ainiius  Braduas,  who  had  never 
laid  aside  his  resentment  at  the  marriage,  and  who  now  accused  him  of  having 
poisoned  his  wife.  Herodes  demanded  a  public  trial,  and  was  acquitted. 
Philostratus  records  that  the  intense  grief  he  showed,  and  the  depth  of  the 
mourning  he  wore  were  taken  as  signs  of  his  innocence.  Further  to  clear 
himself  from  imputation,  Herodes  offered  all  the  jewels  of  Annia  Regilla  upon 
the  altar  of  the  Eleusinian  deities,  Ceres  and  Proserpine,  at  the  same  time  calling 
down  the  vengeance  of  the  outraged  gods  if  he  were  guilty  of  sacrilege. 

The  beloved  Regilla  was  buried  in  a  tomb  surrounded  by  '  a  sepulchral  field ' 
within  the  precincts  of  the  villa  dedicated  to  Minerva  and  Nemesis,  and  (as 
recorded  in  one  of  the  Greek  inscriptions)  it  was  made  an  act  of  the  highest 
sacrilege  for  any  but  her  own  descendants  to  l)e  laid  within  those  sacred  limits. 
A  statue  was  also  erected  to  Regilla  in  the  Triopian  temple  of  Ceres  and  Pro- 
serpine, which  is  now  supposed  to  be  the  same  with  that  usually  called  the 
Temple  of  Bacchus.  Not  only  did  Herodes  hanir  his  house  with  black  in  his 
attliction,  but  all  gaily  coloured  marbles  were  stripped  from  the  walls,  and 
replaced  with  the  dark  grey  marble  known  as  '  bardiglio ; '  and  his  depth  of 


Tomb  of  Herodes  and  Regilla  289 

woe  made  him  so  conspicuous,  that  a  satirical  person  seeing  his  cook  prepare 
white  beans  for  dinner,  wondered  tliat  he  could  dare  to  do  so  in  a  house  so 
entirely  black. i 

The  inscriptions  in  which  this  story  is  related  (one  of  them  con- 
taining thirty-nine  Greek  verses)  are  engraved  on  slabs  of  Pentelic 
marble,  and  Philostratus  and  Pausanias  narrate  that  the  quarries 
of  this  marble  were  the  property  of  Herodes,  and  that  in  his 
magnificent  building  he  almost  exhausted  them. 

The  field-path  from  the  Nymphaeum  leads  back  to  the  Church  of 
Domine  Quo  Vadis,  passing  on  the  right  the  beautifully  finished 
Tomb  of  Herodes  and  Regilla,  commonly  known  as  the  Temple  of 
Divus  Rediculus,  and  formerly  described  as  having  been  built  to 
commemorate  the  retreat  of  Hannibal,  who  came  thus  far  in  his 
intended  attack  upon  Rome.  The  temple  erected  in  memory  of 
this  event  was  really  on  the  right  of  the  Via  Appia  :  it  was  dedi- 
cated to  Rediculus,  the  god  of  Return.  The  folly  of  ciceroni  often 
cites  this  name  as  'Ridiculous.' 

'The  neighbourhood  of  the  Divus  Redicuhis  (which  he,  however,  places  on 
the  right  of  the  Via  Appia)  is  described  by  Pliny  in  connection  with  a  curious 
story  of  imperial  times.  There  was  a  cobbler  who  had  his  stall  in  the  Roman 
Forum,  and  who  possessed  a  tame  raven,  which  was  a  great  favourite  with 
the  young  Romans,  to  whom  he  would  bid  good  day  as  he  sate  perched  upon 
the  rostra.  At  length  he  became  quite  a  public  character,  and  the  indignation 
was  so  great  when  his  master  killed  him  with  his  hammer  in  a  tit  of  rage  at  his 
spoiling  some  new  leather,  that  tliey  slew  the  cobbler,  and  decreed  a  public 
funeral  to  the  bird  ;  who  was  carried  to  the  grave  on  a  bier  adorned  with 
honorary  crowns,  preceded  by  a  piper,  and  supported  by  two  negroes  in  honour 
of  his  colour, — and  buried — '  ad  rogum  usque,  qui  constructus  dextra  Viae 
Appiae  ad  secundum  lapidem  in  campo  Rediculo  appellato  tnit.'— Pliny,  Nat. 
Hint.  lib.  X.  c.  60. 


Returning  to  the  Via  Appia,  we  reach,  on  the  right,  the  Basilica 
of  S.  Sebastiano,  rebuilt  in  1611  by  Flaminio  Ponzio  for  Cardinal 
Scipio  Borghese,  on  the  site  of  a  church  which  had  been  founded 
by  Constantine,  where  once  existed  the  house  and  garden  of  the 
matron  Lucina,  in  which  she  had  buried  the  body  of  Sebastian, 
after  his  (second)  martyrdom  under  Diocletian.  The  basilica  con- 
tains nothing  ancient  but  the  six  granite  columns  in  the  portico. 
The  altar  covers  the  relics  of  the  saint  (a  Gaul,  a  native  of  Nar- 
bonne,  a  christian  soldier  under  Diocletian),  and  the  chapel  of 
S.  Sebastian  has  a  statue  of  him  in  his  youth,  designed  by  Bernini 
and  executed  by  Antonio  Giorgetti. 

'The  almost  colossal  form  lies  dead,  the  head  resting  on  his  helmet  and 
armour.  It  is  evidently  modelled  from  nature,  and  is  perhaps  the  finest  thing 
ever  designed  by  Bernini.  ...  It  is  probably  from  the  association  of  arrows 
with  his  form  and  story  that  S.  Sebastian  has  been  regarded  from  the  first  ages 
of  Christianity  as  the  protecting  saint  against  plague  and  pestilence  ;  Apollo 
was  the  deity  who  inflicted  plague,  and  therefore  was  invoked  with  i)rayer  and 
sacrifice  against  it ;  and  to  the  honom's  of  Apollo,  in  this  particular  character 
S.  Sebastian  has  succeeded.'— Jawf«07i.'s  '  Sacred  Art.' 

'  For  these  and  many  other  particulars,  see  an  interesting  lectui-e  by  ilr. 
Shakespere  Wood  on  The  Fountain  of  Egeria,  given  before  the  Roman 
Archaeological  Society. 

VOL.  I.  T 


290  Walks  in  Rome 

The  original  of  the  footprint  in  the  Domine  Quo  Vadis  is  said  to 
be  preserved  here. 

On  the  left  of  the  entrance  is  the  descent  into  the  catacombs, 
with  the  inscription  : — 

'In  hoc  sacrosancto  loco  qui  ilicitur  ad  Catacunil)!is,  ubi  sepulta  fiienint 
sanctorum  niartyruin  corpora  174,000,  ac  46  suiniiioiuni  pontiflcmu  pariterque 
martyruni.  In  altare  in  quo  corpus  divi  Sebasliaiii  cinisti  .itlili'tac  jacet  cele- 
brans  suniinus  Pontifex  S.  Gregorius  Magnus  vidit  aiigeluin  iJei  caiididioreni 
nive,  sibi  in  treniendo  sacrilit-i<i  nilTiistrantem  ac  dicentem,  "  Jiic  est  locus  sacia- 
tissinuis  in  (luo  est  divina  inoniissio  et  omnium  peceatoruni  remissio,  splendor 
et  lux  periietua,  sine  fine  laetitia.  quam  Cbristi  martyr  Sebastianus  habere  pio- 
meruit.  "  I'rout  Severanus  Tom.  P°.  pagina  451),  ac  etiam  antiquissimae  lapideae 
testantur  tabulae. 

'  Ideo  in  hoc  insigni  privilegiato  altare,  tani  missae  cantatae  quam  privatae, 
dum  celebrantur,  aniniae  quae  sunt  in  purgatorio  pro  quibus  sacrificium  offertur 
plenariam  indulgentiam  et  omnium  suorum  jieccatorum  reniissionem  conse- 
quuntur,  prout  ab  angelo  dictum  fuit,  et  sunimi  pontifices  coiitlrmarunt.' 

These  are  the  catacombs  originally  called  Cimiterium  ad  cata- 
cumbas,  which  have  been  most  frequently  visited  by  strangers, 
because  they  could  always  be  seen  on  application  to  the  monks 
attached  to  the  church,  though  they  are  of  greatly  inferior  interest 
to  those  of  S.  Calixtus.  They  date,  however,  from  apostolic  times, 
and  have  probably — as  Pope  Damasus  tells  us— protected  the  bodies 
of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  in  the  time  of  the  severest  christian  per- 
secution. 

'  Though  future  excavations  may  bring  to  light  much  that  is  interesting  in 
this  cemetery,  the  small  portion  now  accessible  is,  as  a  specimen  of  the  cata- 
combs, utterly  without  value.  Its  only  interest  consists  in  its  religious  associa- 
tions :  here  S.  Bridget  was  wont  to  kneel,  rapt  in  contemplation  ;  here  S.  Charles 
Borromeo  spent  wlnde  nights  in  prayer ;  and  here  the  heart  of  S.  Philip  Neri  was 
so  inflamed  '  with  divine  love  as  to  cause  his  very  bodily  frame  to  be  changed. 
— Northcote's  'Roman  Catacombs.' 

'  Philip,  on  thee  the  glowing  ray 

Of  heaven  came  down  upon  thy  prayer, 
To  melt  thy  heart,  and  burn  away 
All  that  of  earthly  dross  was  there. 

And  so,  on  Philip  when  we  gaze, 

We  see  the  image  of  his  Lord  ; 
The  saint  dissolves  amid  the  blaze 

Which  circles  round  the  Living  Word. 

»  The  meek,  the  wise,  none  else  is  here, 

Dispensing  light  to  men  below  ; 
His  awful  accents  fill  the  ear, 
Xow  keen  as  lire,  now  soft  as  snow.' 

— J.  H.  Newman,  1850. 

Owing  to  the  desire  in  the  early  christian  Church  of  saving  the 
graves  of  their  first  confessors  and  martyrs  from  desecration,  almost 
all  the  catacombs  were  gradually  blocked  up,  and  by  lapse  of  time 
their  very  entrances  were  forgotten.  In  the  fourteenth  century  very 
few  were  still  open.  In  the  fifteenth  century  none  remained  except 
this  of  a.  Sebastian,  which  continued  to  be  frequented  by  pilgrims, 


Catacombs  of  S.  Sebastiano  291 

and  was  called  in  all  ancient  documents,  '  coemeterium  ad  cata- 
cumbas.' 

At  the  back  of  the  high-altar  is  an  interesting  half-subterranean 
building,  attributed  to  Pope  Liberius  (352-;{u5),  and  afterwards 
adorned  by  Pope  Damasus,  who  briefly  tells  its  historj'  in  one  of 
his  inscriptions,  wliich  may  still  be  seen  here  : — 

'  Hie  habitasse  prius  sanctos  cognoscere  debes, 
Xoniina  quisque  Petri  pariter  Paulique  requiris. 
Discipulos  Oiiens  misit,  quod  spoiite  fateinur; 
Sanguinis  ob  nieritum  Christunique  per  astra  sequuti, 
Aetherios  petiere  sinus  et  regna  pioruni. 
Eoma  suos  polius  meruit  defendere  cives. 
llaec  Damasus  vestras  referat  nova  sidera  laudes.' 

'  Here  you  sliould  know  that  saints  dwelt ;  their  names,  if  you  "ask  them,  were 
Peter  and  Paul.  The  East  sent  disciples,  which  we  freely  acknowledge.  For  the 
merit  of  their  blood  they  followed  Christ  to  the  stars,  and  sought  the  heavenly 
home  and  the  kingdom  of  the  l)lest.  Rome,  however,  deserved  to  defend  her 
own  citizens.    May  Damasus  record  these  things  for  your  praise,  O  new  stars  ! ' 

'  The  two  Apostles,  S.  Peter  and  S.  Paul,  were  originally  buried,  the  one  at 
the  Vatican,  the  other  on  the  Ostian  Way,  at  the  spot  where  their  respective 
basilicas  now  stand  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  Oriental  Cliristians  had  heard  of  their 
death,  they  sent  some  of  their  brethren  to  remove  their  bodies,  and  bring  them 
back  to  the  East,  where  they  considered  that  they  had  a  right  to  claim  them  as 
their  fellow-citizens  and  countrymen.  These  so  far  prospered  in  their  mission 
as  to  gain  a  momentary  possession  of  the  sacred  relics,  which  they  carried  off 
along  the  Appian  Way,  as  far  as  the  spot  where  the  Church  of  S.  Sebastian  was 
afterwards  built.  Here  they  rested  for  a  while,  to  make  all  things  ready  for 
their  journey,  or,  according  to  another  account,  were  detained  by  a  thunder- 
storm of  extraordinary  violence,  which  delay,  however  occasioned,  was  sufficient 
to  enable  the  Christians  of  Rome  to  overtake  them  and  recover  their  lost  treasure. 
These  Roman  Christians  then  buried  the  bodies,  with  the  utmost  secrecy,  in  a 
deep  pit,  which  they  dug  on  the  very  spot  where  they  were.  Soon,  indeed,  they 
were  restored  to  their  original  places  of  sepulture,  as  we  know  from  contemporary 
authorities;  and  there  seems  reason  to  believe  the  old  ecclesiastical  tradition  to 
lie  correct  which  states  them  to  liave  only  remained  in  this  temporary  abode  for 
a  year  and  seven  months.  The  body  of  S.  Peter,  however,  was  destined  to  revisit 
it  a  second  time,  and  for  a  longer  period  ;  for  when,  at  the  beginning  of  the  third 
century,  Heliogabalus  made  his  circus  at  the  Vatican,  Calixtus,  who  was  then 
Pope,  removed  the  relics  of  the  Apostle  to  their  former  temporary  resting-place, 
the  pit  on  the  Appian  Way.  But  in  A.D.  257,  S.  Stephen,  the  Pope,  having  been 
discovered  in  this  very  cemetery  and  having  suffered  martyrdom  there,  the  l)ody 
of  S.  Peter  was  once  more  removed,  and  restored  to  its  original  tomlj  in  the 
Vatican.' — Northcote's  '  RoTinan  Catacombs.' 

In  the  passages  of  this  catacomb  are  misguiding  inscriptions, 
placed  here  in  1409  by  William,  Archbishop  of  Bourges,  calling  upon 
the  faithful  to  venerate  here  the  tombs  of  S.  Cecilia  and  of  many  of 
the  martyred  popes  who  are  buried  elsewhere.  The  martyr  S. 
Cyrinus  is  known  to  have  been  buried  here  from  very  early  itine- 
raries, but  his  grave  has  not  been  discovered.  A  fragment  of  a 
marble  bust  of  the  Saviour,  of  the  fourth  century,  was  found  here  in 
189],  with  hair  parted  in  the  middle  and  falling  over  the  shoulders. 

'  When  I  was  a  boy,  being  educated  at  Rome,  I  used  every  Sunday,  in  company 
witli  other  boys  of  my  own  age  and  tastes,  to  visit  the  tombs  of  the  apostles  and 
martyrs,  and  to  go  into  the  crypts  excavated  there  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth. 
The  walls  on  either  side  as  you  enter  are  full  of  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  the 
whole  place  is  so  dark  that  one  seems  almost  to  see  the  fulfilment  of  those 


292  Walks  in  Rome 

words  of  till-  prophet,  "  Let  them  go  down  alive  into  Hades.''  Here  and  there  a 
little  linht  admitted  from  above,  suffices  to  give  a  momentary  relief  to  the  horror 
of  the  darkness  •  t)Ut  as  yoii  go  forwards,  and  find  yourself  again  immersed  in 
the  utter  blackness  of  night,  the  words  of  the  poet  come  spontaneously  to  your 
mind,  "The  very  silence  fills  the  soul  with  dread."'— S.  Jerome  (A.D.  354),  In 
Ezek.,  ch.  Ix. 

'  A  gaunt  Franciscan  friar,  with  a  wild  bright  eye,  was  our  only  guide  down 
into  this  profound  and  dreadful  place.  The  narrow  ways  and  openings  hither 
and  thither,  coupled  with  the  dead  and  heavy  air,  soon  blotted  out,  in  all  of  us. 
any  recollection  of  the  track  by  which  we  had  come ;  and  I  could  not  help 
thinking,  "  Good  Heaven,  if  in  a  sudden  lit  of  madness  he  should  dash  the  torches 
out  or  if  he  should  be  seized  with  a  fit,  what  would  become  of  us ! "  On  we 
wandered,  among  martyrs'  graves ;  passing  great  sul)terranean  vaulted  roads, 
diverging  in  all  directions,  and  choked  up  with  heaps  of  stones,  that  thieves  and 
murderers  may  not  take  refuge  there,  and  form  a  population  under  Rome,  even 
worse  than  that  which  lives  lietween  it  and  the  sun.  Graves,  graves,  graves  ; 
graves  of  men,  of  women,  of  little  children,  who  ran  crying  to  the  persecutors, 
"We  are  Christians!  we  are  Christians  I"  that  they  might  be  murdered  with 
their  parents  ;  graves  with  the  pilni  of  martyrdom  roughly  cut  into  their  stone 
boundaries,  and  little  niches  made  to  hold  a  vessel  of  the  m.irtyr's  blood  ;  graves 
of  some  who  lived  down  here  for  years  together,  ministering  to  the  rest,  and 
preaihing  truth  and  hope  and  comfort  from  the  rude  altars,  that  bear  witness  to 
their  foitit\icte  at  tlii.s  hour;  more  roomy  graves,  but  far  more  terrible,  where 
hundreds.  l)eing  surprised,  were  hemmed  in  and  walled  up— buried  before  death, 
and  kille(i  by  slow  starvation. 

'  "The  triumphs  of  the  Faith  are  not  above  ground  in  our  splendid  churches," 
said  the  friar,  looking  round  upon  us,  as  we  stopped  to  rest  in  one  of  the  low 
passages,  with  bones  and  dust  surrounding  us  on  every  side.  "They  are  here  ! 
among  the  martyrs'  graves  !  "  He  was  a  gentle,  earnest  man,  and  said  it  from 
his  heart ;  but  when  I  thought  how  christian  men  have  dealt  with  one  another  ; 
how,  perverting  our  most  merciful  religion,  they  have  hunted  down  and  tortured, 
burnt  and  beheaded,  strangled,  slaushtered,  and  oppressed  each  other :  I  pictured 
to  myself  an  agony  surpassing  any  that  this  dust  had  suffered  with  the  lireath  of 
life  yet  lingering  in  it,  and  how  these  great  and  constant  hearts  would  have  been 
shaken— how  they  would  have  quailed  and  drooped— if  a  foreknowledge  of  the 
deeds  that  professing  Christians  would  commit,  in  the  great  name  for  which 
they  died,  could  have  rent  them  with  its  own  unutterable  anguish,  on  the  cruel 
wheel,  and  bitter  cross,  and  in  the  fearful  five.'— Dickens. 

'  Countless  martyrs,  they  say,  rest  in  these  ancient  sepulchres.  In  these  dark 
depths  the  ancient  Church  took  refuge  from  persecution  ;  there  she  laid  her 
martyrs,  and  there,  over  their  tombs,  she  chaunted  hymns  of  triumph,  and  held 
communion  with  Him  for  whom  they  died.  In  that  church  I  spend  hours.  I 
have  no  wish  to  descend  into  those  sacred  sepulchres,  and  pry  among  the  graves 
the  resurrection  trump  will  open  soon  enough.  I  like  to  think  of  the  holy  dead, 
lying  undisturbed  and  quiet  there ;  of  their  spirits  in  Paradise  ;  of  their  faith 
triumphant  in  the  city  that  massacred  them. 

'No  doubt  they  also  had  their  perplexities,  and  wondered  why  the  wicked 
triumph,  and  sighed  to  God,  "  How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long  ?  "  '— '  Schonberg-Cotta 
Family.' 

'  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fifth  seal,  I  saw  under  the  altar  the  souls  of 
them  that  were  slain  for  the  Word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  which  they 
held  :  and  they  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and 
true,  dost  Thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth?  And  white  rol)es  were  given  unto  every  one  of  them  :  and  it  was  said 
unto  them,  that  they  should  rest  yet  for  a  little  season,  until  their  fellow- 
servants  also,  and  their  brethren,  that  should  be  killed  as  they  were,  should  be 
fulfilled.'— ifet).  vi.  9-11. 

In  the  Vigna  Randanini,  almost  opposite  S.  Sebastiano,  is  the 
exceedingly  curious  Jewish  Catacomb,  which  can  only  be  visited 
by  especial  permission  from  the  proprietor,  at  whose  sole  expense  it 
has  been  excavated.    A  characteristic  of  this  catacomb  is  the  great 


Tomb  of  Cecilia  Metella  293 

breadth  of  its  passages.  At  one  point  is  a  well.  One  chapel  is 
adorned  with  well-executed  paintings  of  peacocks  and  other  birds. 
The  inscriptions  found  show  that  this  cemeterj'  was  exclusively 
Jewish.  They  refer  to  officers  of  the  synagogue,  rulers  {&pxoi>Tes) 
and  scribes  (ypanfiarecs),  &c.  The  inscriptions  are  in  great  part 
in  Greek  letters,  expressing  Latin  words :  the  monumental  slabs 
are  frequently  adorned  with  the  seven-branched  candlestick.  An 
interesting  Museum  in  the  vineyard  is  filled  with  relics  found  in  the 
Catacombs,  the  most  important  being  a  grand  marble  sarcophagus, 
which  was  in  200  pieces  when  discovered. 

In  the  valley  beneath  S.  Sebastiano  are  the  ruins  of  the  Circus  of 
Maxentius,  near  those  of  a  villa  of  that  emperor.  The  circus  was 
1482  feet  long,  244  feet  broad,  and  was  capable  of  containing  15,000 
spectators,  yet  it  is  a  miniature  compared  with  the  Circus  Maximus, 
though  very  interesting  as  retaining  in  tolerable  preservation  all 
the  different  parts  which  composed  a  circus.  In  the  centre  of  its 
spina  was  the  obelisk  now  in  the  Piazza  Navona.  The  circular  ruin 
near  it  was  a  Temple,  dedicated  by  Maxentius  to  his  son  Romulus. 

'  Le  jeune  Romulus,  etant  mort,  fut  place  au  rang  des  dienx,  dans  cet  olynipe 
qui  s'ecroulait.  Son  pere  lui  eleva  un  temple  dont  la  partie  inferieure  se  voit 
encore,  et  le  cirque  lui-meme  fut  peut-etre  une  dependance  de  ce  temple  funebre, 
car  les  courses  de  chars  etaient  un  des  honneurs  que  I'antiquite  rendait  aux 
morts,  et  sent  souvent  pour  cela  representees  sur  les  tomhenax.'— Ampere, 
Kmp.  ii.  360. 

These  ruins  are  very  picturesque,  backed  by  the  peaks  of  the 
Sabine  range,  which  in  winter  are  generally  covered  with  snow. 

The  opposite  hill  is  crowned  by  the  Tomb  of  Cecilia  Metella, 
daughter  of  Quintus  Metellus  Creticus,  and  wife  of  Crassus.  It  is 
a  round  tower,  seventy  feet  in  diameter.  The  bulls'  heads  on  the 
frieze  gave  it  the  popular  name  of  Capo  di  Bove.  The  marble  coat- 
ing of  the  basement  was  carried  off  by  Urban  VIII.  to  make  the 
fountain  of  Trevi.  The  battlements  were  added  when  the  tomb  was 
turned  into  a  fortress  by  the  Caetani  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

'  About  two  miles  or  more  from  the  city  gates,  and  right  upon  the  roadside, 
is  an  immense  round  pile,  sepulchral  in  its  original  purpose.  It  is  built  of 
great  lilocks  of  hewn  stone,  on  a  vast,  square  foundation  of  rough,  agglomerated 
material,  such  as  composes  the  mass  of  all  the  other  ruinous  tombs.  But, 
whatever  might  be  the  cause,  it  is  in  a  far  better  state  of  preservation  than 
they.  On  its  broad  summit  rise  the  battlements  of  a  mediaeval  fortress,  out 
of  the  midst  of  which  (so  long  since  had  time  begun  to  crumble  the  supplemental 
structure,  and  cover  it  with  soil,  by  means  of  way-side  dust)  grow  trees,  bushes, 
and  thick  festoons  of  ivy.  This  tomb  of  a  woman  has  become  the  dungeon- 
keep  of  a  castle  ;  and  all  the  care  that  Cecilia  iletella's  husband  could  bestow, 
to  secure  endless  peace  for  her  beloved  relics,  only  sufficed  to  make  that 
liandful  of  precious  ashes  the  luicleus  of  battles  long  ages  after  her  death.'— 
llaictJiiinie. 

'  There  is  a  stern  round  tower  of  otlier  days, 

Kirm  as  a  fortress,  with  its  fence  of  stone. 

Such  as  an  army's  battled  strength  delays, 

Standing  with  half  its  battlements  alone. 

And  with  two  tliousand  years  of  ivy  grown, 

The  garland  of  eternity,  where  wave 

The  green  leaves  over  all  by  time  o'crthrown  ;— 

What  was  this  tower  of  strength  •:■  within  its  cave 
What  treasure  lay  so  lock'd,  so  hid?— A  woman's  grave. 


294  Walks  in  Rome 

Hut  wlio  was  she,  the  lady  of  the  dead, 
Tonili'd  ill  a  pahice?    Was  slie  cliaste  ami  fair? 
Worthy  a  king's— or  ii)ore-a  Roiiiaii's  bed? 
What  race  of  chiefs  and  heroes  liid  slie  hear? 
What  daughter  of  her  beauties  was  the  heir? 
Ildw  lived     how  loved— liow  died  she?     Was  she  not 
Sii  hniiuured— and  conspicuously  there, 
Where  meaner  relics  must  not  dare  to  rot. 
Placed  to  commemorate  a  more  than  mortal  lot? 

Perchance  she  died  in  youth  :  it  may  he,  bow'd 
With  woes  far  heavier  than  the  i)onderous  tomb 
That  weigh'd  upon  her  gentle  dust,  a  cloud 
-Might  gather  o'er  her  beauty,  and  a  gloom 
In  her  dark  eye,  prophetic  of  the  doom 
Heaven  gives  its  favourites — early  death  ;  yet  shed 
A  sunset  charm  around  her,  and  illume 
With  hectic  light,  the  Hesperus  fif  the  dead. 
Of  her  consuming  cheek  the  autumnal  leaf-like  red. 

Perchance  she  dien  in  age— surviving  all, 
Charms,  kindred,  children — with  the  silver  grey 
On  her  long  tresses,  which  might  yet  recall, 
It  may  be,  still  a  sonietliing  of  the  day 
When  they  were  liraidcd,  and  her  proud  array 
And  lovely  form  were  envied,  praised,  and  eyed 
By  Rome — but  whither  would  Conjecture  stray? 
Thus  much  alone  we  know — Metella  died, 
The  wealthiest  Roman's  wife  :  behold  his  love  or  pride  I ' 

— Cliilde  Harold. 

Opposite  the  tomb  are  the  ruins  of  a  gothic  church  of  the 
Caetani. 

'  Le  tombeau  de  Cecilia-Matella  etait  devenu  un  chateau  fort  alors  aux  mains 
des  Caiitani,  et  autour  du  chateau  s'etait  forme  un  village  avec  son  6glise,  dont 
on  a  recemment  retrouve  les  restes.' — Ampere,  '  Voyage  Dantesque.' 

The  Tomb  of  Cecilia  Metella  is  situated  on  the  very  edge  of  the 
great  lava  stream  which,  issuing  from  the  Alban  Hills,  flowed  as  far 
as  this  towards  the  site  afterwards  occupied  b_v  Rome.  It  is  at  the 
tomb  that  the  beauties  of  the  Via  Appia  really  begin.  A  very  short 
distance  farther,  we  emerge  from  the  walls  which  have  hitherto  shut 
in  the  road  on  either  side,  and  enjoy  uninterrupted  views  over  the 
Latin  plain,  strewn  with  its  ruined  castles  and  villages,  and  the 
long  lines  of  aqueducts,  to  the  Sabine  and  Alban  mountains. 

'Appia  lonixarum  tcritur  regina  viarum.' 

—Statins,  Sylv.  ii.  2,  12. 

Under  the  empire  the  Appian  Way  was  the  fashionable  drive  of 
the  Roman  nobility,'  but  now  few,  except  foreigners,  enjoy  its 
beauties. 

'Tlie  Via  Appia  is  a  magnificent  promenade,  amongst  ruinous  tombs,  the 
massive  remains  of  which  extend  for  many  miles  over  the  Roman  Campagna. 
The  powerful  families  of  ancient  Rome  loved  to  build  monuments  to  their  dead 
by  the  side  of  the  public  road,  piobably  to  exhibit  at  once  their  affection  for 
their  relations  and  their  own  power  and  affluence.    Most  of  these  monuments 

>  Horace,  Kjjud.  Iv.  14;  Epist.  1,  0,  26. 


The  Via  Appia  295 

are  now  nothing  but  heaps  of  ruins,  upon  which  are  placed  the  statues  and 
sculptures  which  have  been  found  in  the  earth  or  amongst  the  rubbish.  Those 
inscriptions  whicli  have  been  found  on  the  Via  Appia  bear  witness  to  the  grief  of 
the  living'  for  the  dead,  but  never  to  the  hope  of  reunion.  On  a  great  ninnber  of 
sarcophagi  or  the  friezes  of  tombs  may  be  seen  the  dead  sitting  or  lying  as  if  they 
were  alive  ;  some  seem  to  be  praying.  Many  heads  have  great  individuality  of 
character.  Sometimes  a  white  marble  figure,  beautifully  draped,  projects  from 
these  heaps  of  ruins,  but  without  head  or  hands  ;  sometimes  a  hand  is  stretched 
out,  or  a  portion  of  a  figure  rises  from  the  tomb.  It  is  a  street  through  monu- 
ments of  the  dead,  across  an  immense  churchyard  ;  for  the  desulate  Roman 
Campagna  may  be  regarded  as  such.  To  the  left  it  is  scattered  with  the  ruins  of 
colossal  aqueducts,  which,  during  the  time  of  the  emperors,  conveyed  lakes  and 
rivers  to  Rome,  and  which  still,  ruinous  and  destroyed,  delight  the  eye  by  the 
beautiful  proportions  of  their  arcades.  To  the  right  is  an  immense  ])rairie,  without 
any  other  limit  than  that  of  the  ocean,  which,  however,  is  not  seen  from  it.  The 
country  is  desolate,  and  only  here  and  there  are  there  any  huts  or  trees  to  be 
seen.' — Frederika  Bremer. 

'  For  the  space  of  a  mile  or  two  beyond  the  gate  of  S.  Sebastiano,  this  ancient 
and  famous  road  is  as  desolate  and  disagreeable  as  most  of  the  other  Roman 
avenues.  It  extends  over  small,  uncomfortable  paving-stones,  between  brick  and 
plastered  walls,  which  are  very  solidly  constructed,  and  so  high  as  almost  to  ex- 
clude a  view  of  the  surrounding  country.  The  houses  are  of  the  most  uninviting 
aspect,  neither  picturesque,  nor  homelike  and  social ;  they  have  seldom  or  never 
a  door  opening  on  the  wayside,  but  are  accessible  only  from  the  rear,  and  frown 
inhospitably  upon  the  traveller  through  iron-grated  windows.  Here  and  there 
appears  a  dreary  i]m  or  a  wineshop,  designated  by  the  withered  bush  beside  the 
entrance,  within  which  you  discover  a  stone-built  and  sepulchral  interior,  where 
guests  refresh  themselves  with  sour  bread  and  goat's-milk  cheese,  washed  down 
with  wine  of  dolorous  acerbity. 

'  At  frequent  intervals  along  the  roadside,  up  rises  the  ruin  of  an  ancient  tomb. 
.\s  they  stand  now,  these  structures  are  immensely  high  and  broken  mounds  of 
conglomerated  brick,  stone,  pebbles,  and  earth,  all  molten  by  time  into  a  mass 
as  solid  and  indestructible  as  if  each  tomb  were  composed  of  a  single  boulder  of 
granite.  When  first  erected,  they  were  cased  externally,  no  doubt,  with  slabs  of 
polished  marble,  artfully  wrought  bas-reliefs,  and  all  such  suitable  adornments, 
and  were  rendered  majestically  beautiful  by  grand  architectuial  designs.  This 
antique  splendour  has  long  since  been  stolen  from  the  dead  to  decorate  the  palaces 
and  churches  of  the  living.  Nothing  remains  to  the  dishonoured  sepulchres 
except  their  massiveness. 

'  Even  the  pyramids  form  hardly  a  stranger  spectacle,  or  a  more  alien  from 
human  sympathies,  than  the  tonilis  of  tlie  Appian  Way,  with  their  gigantic  height, 
breadth,  and  solidity,  defying  time  and  the  elements,  and  far  too  mighty  to  be 
demolished  by  an  ordinary  earthquake.  Here  you  may  see  a  modern  dwelling, 
and  a  garden  with  its  vines  and  olive-trees,  perched  on  the  lofty  dilapidation  of 
a  tomb,  which  forms  a  precipice  of  fifty  feet  in  depth  on  each  of  the  four  sides. 
There  is  a  house  on  that  funeral  mound,  where  generations  of  children  have 
been  born,  and  successive  lives  have  been  spent,  undisturbed  by  the  ghost  of  the 
stern  Roman  whose  ashes  were  so  preposterously  burdened.  Other  sepulchres 
wear  a  crown  of  grass,  shrubbery,  and  forest-trees,  which  throw  out  a  broad  sweep 
of  ))ranches,  having  had  time,  twice  over,  to  be  a  thousand  years  of  age.  On  one 
of  them  stands  a  tower,  which,  though  immemorially  more  modern  than  the  tomb, 
was  itself  built  by  immemorial  hands,  and  is  now  rifted  quite  from  top  to  bottom 
by  a  vast  fissure  of  decay;  the  tomb-hillock,  its  foundation,  being  still  as  firm  as 
ever,  and  likely  to  endure  until  the  last  trump  shall  rend  it  wide  asunder,  and 
summon  forth  its  unknown  dead. 

'  Yes,  its  unknown  dead  !  For,  except  in  one  or  two  doubtful  instances,  these 
mountainous  sepulchral  edifices  have  not  availed  to  keep  so  much  as  the  bare 
name  of  an  individual  or  a  family  from  oblivion.  Ambitious  of  everlasting  re- 
membrance as  they  were,  the  slumlieieis  might  just  as  well  have  gone  quietly  to 
rest,  each  in  his  pigeon-hole  of  a  columliariuni,  or  under  his  little  green  hillock 
in  a  graveyard,  without  a  headstone  to  mark  the  spot.  It  is  rather  satisfactory 
than  otherwise  to  think  that  all  these  idle  pains  have  turned  out  so  utterly 
abortive. ' — Hawthorne. 


296  Walks  in  Rome 

'  The  brothers  Lugari  are  carrying  on  excavations  at  their  farm  of  the  Tor  Car- 
bone,  at  tlie  fourtli  milestone  on  the  Appian  Way,  with  a  view  of  laying  open 
permanently  a  district  of  the  ancient  Campagna.  Tlie  work  already  accomplished 
is  cnonsh  to  convey  t<i  the  visitor  the  trne  idea  of  the  perfection  to  which  the 
sulmrban  districts  were  brouj^ht  under  the  empire.  The  ground  is  crossed  at 
right  angles  by  roads,  as  freciuent  as  they  would  be  in  the  city  itself ;  and  these 
roads  are  so  neatly  levelled  and  paved,  and  their  side-walks  so  cleverly  arranged, 
that  one  would  scarcely  believe  them  to  be  countiy  roads.  Some  cross-lanes 
were  fm  private  property,  and  were  closed  accordingly  with  gates  at  each  end. 
You  still  see  the  very  walls,  or  materiae,  as  they  were  styled  in  ancient  times, 
enclosing  the  fields  ;  and  in  these  fields  remains  of  rustic  dwellings,  of  a  modest 
appearance,  but  wonderfully  well  adapted  to  their  purpose.  They  show  what 
care  Konian  landlords  took  of  the  hygiene  and  welfare  of  their  peasants.  The 
ground-lloor  rooms  are  provided  with  douljle  pavements,  for  the  circulation  of 
the  hot  air,  or  vapour,  in  the  interstices— a  j)rccaution  most  commendable  in  low, 
damp  lands.  Great  care  was  bestowed  on  the  drainage  of  the  house,  which  was 
always  cai-ried  to  a  great  distance,  and  forced  through  its  channel  l)y  a  permanent 
jet  of  water ;  which,  when  not  actually  needed  for  drinking,  bathing,  or  irrigating 
purposes,  was  stored  in  huge  reservoirs  and  cisterns,  ready  for  any  extraordinary 
emergency.  At  the  crossing  of  the  roads,  or  (jtiadricia,  there  were  fountains  for 
the  accommodation  of  travellers  and  their  horses ;  in  fact,  the  gentleness  and  kind- 
ness of  those  happy  generations  went  so  far  as  to  jtrovide  the  weary  pilgrim  with 
seats,  shaded  by  trees,  where  he  could  rest  during  the  hottest  hours  of  the  day.' 
— Laiiciani,  '  Ancient  Rome' 

Near  the  fourth  mile.stone  is  the  tomb  of  Marcus  Servilius  Quartus 
(with  an  inscription),  res^tored  by  Canova  in  1808.  A  bas-relief  of 
the  death  of  Atys,  killed  by  Adrastus,  a  short  distance  beyond  this, 
has  been  suggested  as  part  of  the  tomb  of  Seneca,  who  was  put  to 
death  'near  the  fourth  milestone'  by  order  of  Nero.  An  inscribed 
tomb  beyond  this  is  that  of  Sextus  Pompeius  Justus. 

Near  this,  in  the  campagna  on  the  left,  are  some  small  remains, 
supposed  to  be  those  of  a  temple  of  Juno. 

Beyond  this  a  number  of  tombs  can  be  identified,  but  none  of  any 
importance.  Such  are  the  tombs  of  Plinius  Eutychius,  erected  by 
Plinius  Zosimus,  a  f  reedman  of  Pliny  the  younger  ;  of  Caius  Licinius ; 
the  doric  tomb  of  the  tax-gatherer,  Claudius  Philippianus,  inscribed 
'  Tito  .  Claudio  .  Secundo  .  Philippiano  .  Coactori  .  Flavia  .  Irene  . 
Vxor  .  Indulgentissimo  ; '  of  Eabinius,  with  three  busts  in  relief  ;  of 
Hermodorus  ;  of  Elsia  Prima,  priestess  of  Isis  ;  of  Marcus  C.  Cer- 
doiius,  with  the  bas-relief  of  an  elephant  bearing  a  burning  altar. 
The  marble  casing  has  been  plundered  from  all  the  tombs,  and  little 
remains  but  brickwork.  '  Almost  all  the  houses  in  the  city,'  wrote 
Raffaelle  to  Leo  X.,  'have  been  built  with  lime  made  out  of  the 
precious  marbles  that  were  the  glory  of  Rome.' 


'  "  Brickwork  I  found  thee,  and  marble  I  left  thee,"  their  emperor  vaunt 
"  Marble  I  thought  thee,  and  brickwork  I  find  thee  ! "  the  tourist  may  answer. 


ited  ; 

'  answ 

— Clough. 


Most  of  the  tombs,  both  here  and  on  the  other  roads  round  Rome, 
have  an  inscription — titulus  sepulcralis — stating  the  amount  of 
frontage  and  depth  behind  belonging  to  the  family  who  owned  the 
monument.     Horace  gives  the  usual  measurement — 

'  Mille  pedes  in  fronte,  trecentos  cippus  in  agrum 
Hie  dabat ;  heredes  monumentum  ne  sequeretur.' 

—Sat.  i.  viii.  12. 


The  Via  Appia  297 

Beyond  the  fifth  milestone,  two  circular  mounds  with  basements 
of  peperino  were  considered  by  Canina  to  be  the  tombs  of  the  Horatii 
and  Curiatii. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  is  the  exceedingly  picturesque 
mediaeval  fortress  known  as  Torre  Mezza  Strada,  into  which  are 
incorporated  the  remains  of  the  Church  of  S.  Maria  Nuova,  or  della 
Gloria.  Behind  this  extend  a  vast  assemblage  of  ruins  which 
form  a  splendid  foreground  to  the  distant  mountain  view,  and 
whose  size  has  led  to  their  receiving  the  popular  epithet  of  Roma 
Vecchia.  Here  was  the  favourite  villa  of  the  Emperor  Commodus, 
where  he  was  residing  when  the  people,  excited  by  a  sudden 
impulse  during  the  games  of  the  Circus,  rose  and  poured  out  of 
Rome  against  him — as  the  inhabitants  of  Paris  to  Versailles — 
and  refused  to  depart,  till,  terrified  into  action  by  the  entreaties 
of  his  concubine  Marcia,  he  tossed  the  head  of  the  unpopular 
Cleander  to  them  out  of  the  window,  and  had  the  brains  of  that 
minister's  child  dashed  out  against  the  stones.  'J'he  residence  of 
the  emperors  at  some  particular  villa  always  drew  a  number  of 
patrician  families  to  build  in  the  neighbourhood.  '  Ubi  Caesar, 
ibi  Roma,'  was  a  maxim  of  Roman  jurisprudence.  This  villa  is 
proved,  by  the  discovery  of  a  number  of  pipes  bearing  their  names, 
to  have  been  originally  the  winter  villa '  of  the  brothers  Condianus 
and  Maximus,  of  the  great  family  of  the  Quintilii,  which  was  con- 
fiscated by  Commodus,  and  which  occupied  nearly  a  square  mile. 

'  L'histoire  des  deux  freres  est  interessante  et  romanesque.  Condianus  et 
Maximus  Quintilius  etaient  distingues  par  la  science,  les  talents  militaires,  la 
richesse,  et  surtout  par  une  tendresse  niutuelle  qui  ne  s'etait  jamais  dementie. 
Servant  toujonrs  ensemlile.l'un  se  f aisait  le  lieutenant de  I'autre.  Bien  qu'etrangers 
a  toute  conspiration,  leur  vertu  les  ttt  suupeonner  d'etre  pen  favorables  a  Com- 
mode ;  ils  f urent  proserits  et  moururent  ensemble  conime  ils  avaient  vecu.  L'un 
d'eux  avait  un  fils  noninie  Sextus.  Au  moment  de  la  mort  de  son  pere  et  de  son 
oncle,  ce  fils  se  trouvait  en  Syrie,  Pensant  bien  que  le  mume  sort  I'attendait,  il 
feignit  de  mourir  pour  sauver  sa  vie.  Sextus,  apres  avoir  Ini  du  sang  de  lieyre, 
monta  a  cheval,  se  laissa  tomber,  vomit  le  sang  qu'il  avait  pris  et  qui  parut  etre 
son  propre  sang.  On  mit  dans  sa  biere  le  corps  d'un  belier  qui  passa  pour  son 
cadavre,  et  il  disparut.  Depuis  ce  temps,  il  erra  sous  divers  degnisements  ;  mais 
on  sut  qu'il  avait  ecliappe,  et  on  se  mit  a  sa  recherche.  Beancoup  furent  tues 
parce  qu'ils  lui  ressemblaient,  ou  parce  qu  ils  etaient  soupc^onnes  de  lui  avoir 
tlonne  asile.  II  n'est  pas  bien  sur  qu'il  ait  ete  atteint,  que  sa  tete  se  trouyat 
parrai  celles  qu'on  apporta  a  Kome  et  qu'on  dit  etre  la  sienne.  Ce  qui  est  certain, 
c'est  qu'apres  la  mort  de  Commode,  un  aventurier,  tente  par  la  belle  villa  et  par 
les  grandes  richesses  des  Quintilii,  se  donna  pour  Sextus  et  reclama  son  heritage. 
II  parait  ne  pas  avoir  manque  d'adresse  et  avoir  connu  celui  pour  lequel  il  vou- 
lait  qu'on  le  prit,  car  par  ses  reponses  il  se  tira  tres  bien  de  toutes  les  enquetes. 
Peut-etre  s'etait-il  lie  avec  Sextus  et  I'avait-il  assassine  ensiiite.  Cependant 
I'empereur  Pertinax,  successeur  de  Commode,  I'ayant  fait  venir,  eut  I'idee  de 
lui  parler  grec.  Le  vrai  Sextus  connaissait  parfaitement  cette  langue.  Le  fau.x 
Sextus,  qui  ne  savait  pas  le  grec,  repondit  tout  de  travers,  et  sa  fraude  fut  ainsi 
decouverte.' — Ampere,  Emp.  ii.  253. 

The  great  Torlonia  farm  of  Roma  Vecchia  is,  in  its  limits,  identical 
with  the  property  which  Commodus  held  here. 

1  Their  magnificent  summer  villa  was  seven  miles  off,  on  the  slopes  of  Tusculum, 
almost  on  the  site  of  the  Villa  Mondragone. 


298  Walks  in  Rome 

It  was  near  S.  Maria  Nuova  that  a  great  sensation  was  created  in 
April  14S5  by  the  di-covery  of  the  perfect  body  of  a  beautiful  young 
woman,  wiih  an  inscription  stating  that  it  was  that  of  Julia  Prisca, 
who  '  di(i  r.o  wrong  except  to  die.' 

On  the  left  of  the  Via  Appia  appears  a  huge  monument  on 
a  narrow  base,  called  the  Tomb  of  the  Metelli.  Beyond  this,  after 
the  fifth  milestone,  are  the  tombs  of  Sergius  Demetrius,  a  wine 
merchant ;  of  Lucius  Arrius  ;  of  Septimia  Gallia ;  and  of  one  of 
the  Caecilii,  in  whose  sepulchre,  according  to  Eutropius,  was  buried 
Pomponius  Atticus,  the  friend  of  Cicero,  whose  daughter  Pomponia 
was  the  first  wife  of  Agrippa,  and  whose  grand-daughter  Vipsania 
Agrippina  was  the  first  wife  of  Tiberius. 

'  Far  places,  rancieii  pav6  reparait,  de  grandes  pierres  plates,  des  morceaux 
du  lave,  dejetcs  par  le  temps,  rudes  aux  voitures  le  niieiix  suspeiuUies.  A  droit 
et  a  gauche  filent  deux  baiides  dherbe,  oil  salignent  les  mines  des  tombeaux, 
d'une  herbe  abandonnue  de  cinieiitre,  brCilee  par  les  soleils  d'ete,  semee  de  gros 
chardons  violatres  et  de  hauls  fenouils  jaunes.  X'n  petit  niur  a  hauteur  dappui, 
bati  en  pierres  seches,  clot  de  cliaque  cote  ces  marges  roussatres,  pleines  dun 
crepitenient  de  sauterelles  ;^et,  au  delii,  a  perte  de  vue,  la  Campagne  romaine 
s'etend,  immense  et  nue.  A  peine,  pres  des  bords,  de  loin  en  loin,  aperyoit-on 
un  pin  parasol,  un  eucalyptus,  des  oliviers,  des  flguiers,  lilancs  de  poussiere. 
.Sur  la  gauche,  les  restes  de  lAcqua  Claudia  detachent  dans  les  pres  leurs  arcades 
couleur  de  roullle,  des  cultures  maigres  s'etendent  au  loin,  les  vignes  avec  de 
petites  fermes,  jusqu'aux  monts  de  la  Sabine  et  jusqu'aux  nionts  Albains,  d'un 
bleu  violatre,  oil  les  taches  claires  de  Frascati,  de  Rocca  di  Papa,  d'Albano, 
graiulisseiit  et  blanchissent,  a  mesnre  qu'on  approche  ;  tandis  que,  sur  la  droite, 
du  colli  de  la  nier,  la  plaiue  s'elargit  et  se  prolonge,  par  vastes  ondiilations,  sans 
une  maison,  sans  un  arbre,  d'une  grandeur  simple  extraordinaire,  une  ligne 
unique,  toute  plate,  un  horizon  dun  ocean  qu'une  ligne  droite,  d'un  bout  i  I'autre, 
separe  du  ciel.  Au  gros  d'ete,  tout  brCile,  la  prairie  illiniitee  flambe,  d'un  ton 
fauve  de  brasier.  Des  septembre,  cet  ocean  commence  a  verdir,  se  perde  dans  du 
rose  et  dans  du  mauve,  jusqu'au  bleu  eclatant,  eclabousse  d'or,  des  beaux  couchers 
de  soleil.' — Zola. 

Close  to  the  >ixth  milestone  is  the  mass  of  masonry  sometimes 
called  '  Casale  Rotondo,'  or  'Cotta's  Tomb,'  from  that  name  being 
found  there  inscribed  on  a  stone,  but  generally  attributed  to  Messala 
Corvinus,  the  poet,  and  friend  of  Horace,  and  believed  to  have  been 
raised  to  him  by  his  son  Valerius  Maxim  us  Cotta,  mentioned  in 
Ovid. 

'Te  tamen  in  turba  non  ausim,  Cotta,  silere, 
Pieridum  lumen,  praesidiumque  fori.' 

— Epwt.  ex  Ponto,  iv.  16,  41. 

This  tomb  was  even  larger  than  that  of  Cecilia  Metella,  and  was 
turned  into  a  fortress  by  the  Orsini  in  the  fifteenth  centurj\ 

Beyond  this  are  tombs  identified  as  those  of  P.  Quintius,  tribune 
of  the  sixteenth  legion  ;  Marcus  Julius,  steward  of  Claudius  ;  Publius 
Decumius  Philomusus  (with  appropriate  bas-reliefs  of  two  mice 
nibbling  a  cake) ;  and  of  Cedritius  Klaccianius. 

Passing  on  the  left  the  Tor  di  Selce,  erected  upon  a  huge  unknown 
tomb,  are  the  tombs  of  Titia  Eucharis,  and  of  Atilius  Evodus, 
jeweller  (margaritarius)  on  the  Via  Sacra,  with  the  inscription, 
'  Hospes  resiste — aspice  ubi  continentur  ossa  hominis  boni  miseri- 
cordis  amautis  pauperis.'     Near   the  eighth   milestone  are   ruins 


The  Via  Appia  299 

attributed  to  the  Temples  of  Silvanus  and  of  Hercules,  of  wliich 
the  latter  is  mentioned  in  Martial's  Epigrams,  beyond  which  were 
the  villas  of  Bassus  and  of  Persius.  The  last  tomb  identified  is  that 
of  Quintus  Veiranius.  Near  the  ninth  milestone  is  a  tomb  supposed 
to  be  that  of  Gallienus  (Imp.  268),  who  lived  close  by  in  a  villa, 
amid  the  ruins  of  which  the  'Discobolus'  was  discovered.  Many 
of  the  tombs  are  (or  were)  overgrown  with  tufts  of  the  rocceUa,  or 
orchil-weed,  which  yields  the  famous  purple  dye,  with  which,  in  all 
likelihood,  the  robes  of  the  Caesars  were  coloured,  and  which  gave 
wealth,  rank,  and  a  name  to  the  princely  family  of  the  Ruccellai. 

From  the  stream  called  Pontecello,  near  the  tenth  milestone, 
the  road  gradually  ascends  to  Albano,  passing  several  large  but 
unnamed  tombs.  At  the  Osteria  delle  Frattocchie  it  joins  the  Via 
Appia  Nuova.  Close  to  the  gate  of  Albano,  it  passes  on  the  left  the 
tall  tomb  attributed  to  Pompey  the  Great,  in  accordance  with 
the  statement  of  Plutarch,  and  in  spite  of  the  epigram  of  Varro 
Atacinus,  which  says  : — 

'  Marmoreo  Liciinis  tumulo  jacet ;  at  Cato  parvo  ; 
Pompeius  uullo  ;  quis  putet  esse  Deos?' 

Among  the  many  processions  which  have  passed  along  this  road, 
perhaps  the  most  remarkable  have  been  that  bearing  back  to  Rome 
the  dead  body  of  Sulla,  who  died  at  Puteoli,  'in  a  gilt  litter,  with 
royal  ornaments,  trumpets  before  him,  and  horsemen  behind  ;i  and 
the  funeral  of  Augustus,  who,  dying  at  Nola  (A.D.  14),  was  brought 
to  Bovillae,  and  remained  there  a  mohth  in  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Julian  family,  after  which  the  knights  brought  the  body  in  solemn 
procession  to  his  palace  on  the  Palatine. 

But  throughout  a  walk  along  the  Appian  Way,  the  one  great 
christian  interest  of  this  world-famous  road  will,  to  the  christian 
visitor,  overpower  all  others.  It  was  by  this  road,  over  these 
paving-stones,  that  S.  Paul  came  to  Rome  in  56  A.D. 

'  And  so  we  went  toward  Rome. 

'  And  from  thence,  when  the  brethren  heard  of  us,  they  came  to  meet  us  as  far 
as  Appii  Forum,  and  the  Three  Taverns  ;  whom  when  Paul  saw,  he  thanked  God, 
and  took  courage. 

'  And  when  we  came  to  Home,  the  centurion  delivered  the  prisoners  to  the 
captain  of  the  guard  :  Imt  Paul  was  suft'ered  to  dwell  by  himself,  with  a  soldier 
that  kept  him.'— .dcts  xxviii.  H-liJ. 

'  It  is  not  without  its  manifold  uses  to  remember  that,  amidst  the  dim  and 
wavering  traditions  of  later  times,  one  figure  at  least  stands  out  clear  and  dis- 
tinct and  undoubted,  and  this  figure  is  the  Apostle  Paul.  He,  whatever  we 
may  think  concerning  any  other  apostle  or  apostolic  man  in  connection  with 
Rome,  he,  beyond  a  shadow  of  a  doubt,  appears  in  the  >"ew  Testament  as  her 
great  teacher.  No  criticism  or  scepticism  of  modern  times  has  ever  questioned 
the  perfect  authenticity  of  that  last  chapter  of  the  Acts,  which  gives  the  account 
of  his  journey,  stage  l)y  stage,  till  he  set  foot  within  the  walls  of  the  city.  How- 
ever much  we  may  be  compelled  to  distrust  any  particular  traditions  concerning 
special  localities  of  his  life  and  death,  we  cannot  doubt  for  a  moment  that  his 
eye  rested  on  the  same  general  view  of  sky  and  plain  and  mountain ;  that  his 


'  Ampere,  Iliist.  Rom.  iv.  402. 


300  Walks  in  Rome 

feet  trod  the  pavement  of  the  same  Appiaii  road  ;  that  his  way  lay  through  the 
same  long  avenue  of  ancient  tombs  on  which  we  now  look  and  wonder  ;  that  he 
entered  (and  there  we  liave  our  hist  authentic  glimpse  of  his  prosress)  throuijh 
the  arcli  of  Drusus,  and  then  is  lost  to  our  view  in  tlie  great  Babylon  of  Rome.'— 
A.  P.  Statileii's  '  Seniintix.' 

'  When  S.  Paul  was  approaching  Rome,  all  the  bases  of  the  mountains  were 
(as  indeed  they  are  partially  now)  clustered  round  with  tlie  villas  and  gardens  of 
wealthy  citizens.  The  Appian  Way  clinilis  and  then  descends  along  its  southern 
slope.  After  passing  Lanuvium  it  crossed  a  crater-like  valley  on  immense  suli- 
structions,  which  still  remain.  Here  is  Aricia,  an  easy  stage  from  Kome.  The 
town  was  above  the  road,  and  on  the  hillside  swarms  of  beggars  beset  travellers 
as  they  passed.  On  the  summit  of  the  ne.vt  rise,  Paul  of  Tarsus  would  obtain 
his  first  view  of  Rome.  Tliere  is  no  doubt  that  tlie  prospect  was,  in  many 
respects,  very  different  from  the  view  wliich  is  now  obtained  from  the  same 
spot.  It  is  true  that  the  natural  features  of  the  scene  are  unaltered.  The  long 
wall  of  tlie  liliie  Sabine  mountains,  witli  Soracte  in  the  distance,  closed  in  the 
•  'ampagna,  which  stretched  far  across  to  the  sea  and  round  the  base  of  the 
Alban  hills.  But  ancient  Konie  was  not,  like  modern  Rome,  impressive  from  its 
SDlitude,  standing  alone,  with  its  one  conspicuous  cupola,  in  the  midst  of  a 
desolate  though  beautiful  wast  •.  S.  Paul  would  see  a  vast  city,  covering  the 
Canipagna,  and  almost  continuously  connected  by  its  suburbs  with  the  villas  on 
the  hill  where  he  stood,  and  with  the  bright  towns  which  clustered  on  the  sides 
of  the  mountains  r)pposite.  Over  all  the  intermediate  space  were  the  houses  and 
gardens,  through  which  aqueducts  and  roads  might  be  traced  in  converging  lines 
towards  the  confused  mass  of  edifices  which  formed  the  city  of  Rome.  Here  no 
conspicuous  building,  elevated  above  the  rest,  attracted  the  eye  or  the  imagina- 
tion. Ancient  Rome  had  neither  cupola  nor  campanile,  still  less  had  it  any  of 
those  spires  which  give  life  to  all  the  capitals  of  Northern  Christendom.  It  was 
a  wide-spread  aggregate  of  buildings,  which,  though  separated  by  narrow  streets 
and  open  spaces,  appeared,  when  seen  fiom  near  Aricia.  blended  into  one  indis- 
criminate mass  ;  for  distance  concealed  the  contrasts  which  divided  the  crowded 
habitations  of  the  poor  and  the  dark  haunts  of  filth  and  misery  from  the  theatres 
and  colonnades,  the  baths,  the  temples,  and  palaces  with  gilded  roofs,  flashing 
back  the  sun. 

'  The  road  descended  into  the  plain  at  Bovillae,  si.x  miles  from  Aricia  ;  and 
thence  it  proceeded  in  a  straight  line,  with  the  sepulchres  of  illustrious  families 
on  either  hand.  One  of  these  was  the  burial-place  of  the  Julian  gens,  with 
which  the  centurion  who  had  charge  of  the  prisoners  was  in  some  way  con- 
nected. As  ihey  proceeded  over  the  old  pavement,  among  gardens  and  modern 
houses,  and  approached  nearer  the  busy  metropolis— the  "conflux  issuing  forth 
or  entering  in"  in  various  costumes  and  on  various  errands — vehicles,  horsemen 
and  foot-passengers,  soldiers  and  labourers,  Romans  and  foreigners— became 
more  crowded  and  confusing.  The  houses  grew  closer.  They  were  already  in 
Rome.  It  was  impossible  to  define  the  coninienceraent  of  the  city.  Its  populous 
portions  extended  far  beyond  the  limits  marked  out  by  Servius.  The  ancient 
wall,  with  its  once  sacred  ponioerium,  was  rather  an  object  for  antiquarian 
interest,  like  the  walls  of  York  or  Chester,  than  any  protection  against  the 
enemies,  who  were  kept  far  aloof  by  the  legions  on  the  frontier. 

'  Yet  the  Porta  Capena  is  a  spot  which  we  can  hardly  leave  without  lingering 
for  a  moment.  I'nder  this  arch — which  was  perpetually  dripping  with  the  water 
of  the  aqueduct  that  went  over  it— had  passed  all  those  who,  since  a  remote 
period  of  the  repulilic,  had  travelled  by  the  Appian  Way— victorious  generals 
with  their  legions  returning  from  foreign  service — emperors  and  courtiers, 
vagrant  representatives  of  every  form  of  heathenism,  Greeks  and  Asiatics,  Jews 
and  Christians.  Kroni  this  point  entering  within  the  city,  Julius  and  his 
prisoners  moved  on,  with  the  Aventine  on  their  left,  close  round  the  base  of  the 
Coelian,  and  through  the  hollow  ground  which  lay  between  this  hill  and  the 
Palatine ;  thence  over  the  low  ridge  called  Yelia,  where  afterwards  was  built 
the  Arch  of  Titus,  to  commemorate  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  then 
descending  by  the  Via  Sacra  into  that  space  which  was  the  centre  of  imperial 
power  and  imperial  magnificence,  and  associated  also  with  the  most  glorious 
recollections  of  the  republic.  The  Forum  was  to  Rome  what  the  Acropolis 
was  to  Athens,  the  heart  of  all  the  characteristic  interest  of  the  place.  Here 
was  the  Milliarium  Aurexnn,  to  which  the  roads  of  all  the  provinces  converged. 


The  Via  Appia  301 

All  around  were  the  stately  buildings  which  were  raised  in  the  closing  years 
of  the  republic  and  by  the  early  emperors.  In  front  was  the  Capitoline  Hill, 
illustrious  long  before  the  invasion  of  the  Gauls.  Close  on  the  left,  covering 
that  hill  whose  name  is  associated  in  every  modern  European  language  with 
the  notion  of  imperial  splendour,  were  the  vast  ranges  of  the  palace— the 
"house  of  Caesar  "  (Phil.  iv.  22).  Here  were  the  household  troops  quartered  in 
a  praetoriuin  attached  to  the  palace.  And  here  (unless,  indeed,  it  was  in  the 
great  Praetorium  camp  outside  the  city  wall)  Julius  gave  up  his  prisoner  to 
Burrus,  the  Praetorium  Prefect,  whose  official  duty  it  was  to  keep  in  custody  all 
accused  persons  who  were  to  be  tried  before  the  Emiieror.'—Conybeare  and 
Hou'son. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  QUIRINAL  AND  VIMINAL 

Palazzo  Barbei-ini— Palazzo  Albaiii— S.  Carlo  a  Quattro  Fontane— S.  Andrea  a 
Monte  Cavallo— Quirinal  Palace— Palazzo  della  Coiisulta— Palazzo  Rnspifrliosi 
—Colonna  Gardens  and  Temple  of  the  Snn— 8.  Silvestro  a  Monte  Cavallo— 
S.  Caterina  di  Siena— SS.  Domenico  e  Sisto— S.  Agata  del  Goti — S.  Maria  in 
Monte — .S.  Lorenzo  Pane  e  Herna— S.  Piidentiana— S.  Paolo  Primo  Ereniita  - 
S.  Dionisio— S.  Vitale. 

IT  is  difficult  to  determine  the  exact  limits  of  what  in  ancient 
times  were  regarded  as  the  Quirinal  and  Viminal  hills,  which, 
in  ancient  times,  were  called  collen,  in  contradistinction  to  the  other 
five  hills,  which  were  called  montcs — the  whole  re;/io  being  called 
Collina.  These  hills,  like  the  Esquiline  and  Coelian,  are  in  fact 
merely  spurs  or  tongues  of  hills,  projecting  inwards  from  a  common 
base,  the  broad  table-land  which  slopes  on  the  other  side  almost 
imperceptibly  into  the  Campagna.^  That  which  is  described  in 
this  chapter  as  belonging  to  these  two  hills  is  chietiy  the  district  to 
the  right  of  the  Via  Quattro  Fontane,  and  its  continuations,  which 
extend  in  a  straight  line  to  S.  Maria  Maggiore. 

The  Quirinal,  like  all  the  other  hills,  except  the  Palatine  and  the 
Coelian,  belonged  to  the  Sabines  in  the  earlier  period  of  Roman 
history,  and  is  full  of  records  of  their  occupation.  They  had  a 
capital  here  which  is  believed  to  have  been  long  anterior  to  that 
on  the  Capitoline,  and  which  was  crowned  by  a  temple  of  Jupiter, 
Juno,  and  Minerva.  This  Sabine  capital  occupied  the  site  of  the 
present  Palazzo  Rospigliosi. 

The  name  Quirinal  is  derived  from  the  Sabine  word  Qidris, 
signifying  a  lance,  which  gave  the  Sabines  their  name  of  Quirites 
or  lance-bearers,  and  to  their  god  the  name  Quirinus."  After  his 
death  Romulus  received  this  title,  and  an  important  temple  was 
raised  to  him  on  the  Quirinal  by  Nuraa,"  under  this  name,  thus 
identifying  him  with  Janus  Quirinus,  the  national  god.  This 
temple  was  surrounded  by  a  sacred  grove  mentioned  by  Ovid.-*  It 
was  rebuilt  by  the  Consul  L.  Papirius  Cursor,  to  commemorate  his 
triumph  after  the  third  Samnite  war,  B.C.  293,  when  he  adorned 
it  with  a  sundial  {solarium  horoloyium),  the  first  set  up  in  Rome, 
which,  however,  not  being  constructed  for  the  right  latitude,  did 

1  Merivale,  '  Itomans  under  the  Empire,' ch.  xi. 

-  Ampere,  Hint.  Horn.  i.  141.  3  Dionysius,  ii.  G3. 

4  Ovid,  Met.  xiv.  452,  453. 

302 


Palazzo  Barberini  303 

not  show  the  time  correctly.  This  defect  was  not  remedied  till 
nearly  a  century  afterwards,  when  Q.  Alarcius  Philippus  set  up  a 
correct  dial.'  In  front  of  this  temple  grew  two  celebrated  myrtle 
trees,  one  called  Patrlia,  the  other  Plebeui,  which  shared  the" for- 
tunes of  their  respective  orders,  as  the  orange  tree  at  S.  Sabina 
now  does  that  of  the  Dominicans.  Thus,  up  to  the  fifth  century, 
Patricia  flourished  gloriously,  and  Plebeia  pined  ;  but  from  the  time 
when  the  Plebeians  completely  gained  the  upper  hand,  Patricia 
withered  away.-  The  temple  was  rebuilt  by  Augustu.s,  and  Dion 
Cassius  states  that  the  number  of  pillars  by  which  it  was  surrounded 
accorded  with  that  of  the  years  of  his  life." 
Adjoining  the  temple  was  a  portico  : — 

'  Vicini  pete  porticuni  Quirini : 
Turbani  non  habet  otiosiorem 
Pompeius.' 

—Martial,  Ep.  xi.  i. 

' OfHcium  eras 

Primo  sole  mihi  peragendum  in  valle  Quirini.' 

—Juvenal,  Sat.  ii.  132. 

Hard  by  was  a  temple  of  Fortuna  Publica  : — 

'  Qui  dicet.  Quondam  sacrata  est  colle  Quirini 
Hae  Fortuna  die  Pulilica  :  verus  erit.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  iv.  375. 

Also  an  altar -to  Mamurius,  an  ancient  Sabine  divinity,  probably 
identical  with  Mars,  and  a  Temple  of  Salus,  or  Health,  which  gave 
a  name  to  the  Porta  Salutaris,  which  must  have  stood  nearly  on 
the  site  of  the  present  Palazzo  Barberini,  and  near  which,  not 
inappropriately,  was  a  Temple  of  Fever,  in  the  Via  S.  Vitale,  where 
fever  is  still  prevalent. 

The  site  of  the  Temple  of  Quirinus,  discovered  and  demolished 
in  1G26,  was  nearly  that  now  occupied  by  S.  Andrea  a  Monte  Cavallo. 
On  the  site  of  the  Convent  of  S.  8ilvestro  was  the  Temple  of  Semo- 
Sancus,  the  reputed  father  of  Sabinus.  Between  these  two  temples 
was  the  house  of  Pomponius  Atticus  (the  friend  and  correspondent 
of  Cicero),  a  situation  which  gave  an  opportunity  for  the  witticism  of 
Cicero  when  he  said  that  he  would  rather  Caesar  should  dwell  with 
Quirinius  than  with  Salus,  meaning  that  he  would  rather  he  should 
be  at  war  than  be  in  good  health.'* 

In  the  same  neighbourhood  lived  Martial  the  epigrammatist,  '  on 
the  third  iioor,  in  a  narrow  street,'  whence  he  had  a  view  as  far  as 
the  portico  of  Agrippa,  near  the  Flaminian  Way.  Below,  probably 
on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Piazza  Barberini,  was  a  Circus  of 
Flora. 


1  Dyer's  'Rome,'  p.  95. 

'J  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  xv.  35,  2.  3  Dion  Cass.  liv. 

■*  '  De  Caesare  vicino  scripseram  ad  te,  quia  cognorani  ex  tuis  literis:  eum 
ffiivfaov  Quirino  malo,  quam  Saluti.' — Ad  Att.  xii.  45. 


304  Walks  in  Rome 

'Mater,  ailes,  floruni,  ludis  celebraiida  jocosis  : 

Distuleram  partes  inense  priore  tuas. 
Incipis  Aprili :  transis  in  tenipora  Mali. 

Alter  te  fusxiens,  (lunm  venit  alter,  habet. 
Quum  tua  sint,  cedanUiuc  tilii  conllnia  mensum, 

Conveiiit  in  laiules  ille  vel  iste  tuas. 
Circus  in  hunc  exit,  clamataque  palnia  theatris  : 
Hoc  ouociue  cum  Circi  nuinere  carmen  eat.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  V.  183. 

Among  the  great  families  who  lived  on  the  Quirinal  were  the 
Cornelii,  who  had  a  street  of  their  own,  Vicus  Corneliorum,  probably 
on  the  slopes  behind  the  present  Colonna  Palace  ;  and  the  Flavii, 
who  were  of  Sabine  oricrin.^  Domitian  was  born  here  in  the  house 
of  the  Flavii,  afterwards  consecrated  by  him  as  a  temple,  in  which 
Vespasian,  Titus,  and  Domitian  himself  were  buried,  and  Julia, 
the  ugly  daughter  of  Titus — well  known  from  her  statues  in  the 
Vatican. 

As  some  fragments  remain  of  the  two  buildings  erected  on  the 
Quirinal  during  the  later  empire,  Aurelian's  Temple  of  the  Sun  and 
the  Baths  of  Constantine,  they  will  be  noticed  in  the  regular  course. 

In  the  hollow  between  the  Quirinal  and  the  Pincian  Hills,  where 
the  Via  Sistina  meets  the  Via  delle  Quattro  Fontane,  is  the  small 
Piazza  del  Tritone,  with  a  pretty  fountain  having  the  figure  of  a 
Triton  blowing  on  a  shell,  by  Bernini.  Under  the  Papal  Government 
no  subject  was  more  frequently  painted  by  artists  than  this  ;  but 
the  '  subject '  is  gone  now,  the  pavement  has  been  raised  and 
straightened,  the  fountain  half  buried,  and  the  groups  of  great  oxen 
which  used  to  surround  it  are  a  tale  of  the  past.~ 


On  the  ascent  of  the  hill,  just  above  the  Piazza  del  Tritone,  is  the 
noble  Barberini  Palace,  built  by  Urban  VIII.  from  designs  of  Carlo 
Maderno,  continued  by  Borromini,  and  finished  by  Bernini  in  1640. 
It  is  screened  from  the  street  by  a  magnificent  railing  between 
columns,  erected  1865-67  ;  and  if  this  railing  could  be  continued, 
and  the  block  of  houses  towards  the  piazza  removed,  it  would  be 
far  the  most  splendid  private  palace  in  Rome. 

This  immense  building  is  a  memorial  of  the  magnificence  and 
ambition  of  Urban  VIII.  Fearing  that  the  family  of  Barberini 
might  become  absorbed  in  that  of  Colonna,  he  also  issued  a  Bull 
by  which  the  name,  estates,  and  privileges  of  his  house  might  pass 
to  any  living  male  descendant,  legitimate  or  illegitimate,  whether 
child  of  prince  or  priest.''  The  size  of  the  palace  is  enormous,  the 
smallest  'apartment'  in  the  building  containing  forty  rooms.  The 
family  have  usually  inhabited  the  right  wing.     In  the  left  wing — 

1  Vespasian  had  a  brother  named  Sabinus  ;  his  son's  name  recalls  that  of  Titus 
Tatius. 

2  Hence  the  shabby  Via  del  Tritone  leads  to  the  Corso.  Its  lower  and  wider 
portion  was  formerly  the  Via  del  Angelo  Custode,  but  Sardinian  Rome  does  not 
honour  any  guardian  angel. 

3  Silvagni. 


Palazzo  Barberini  305 

occupied  in  the  beginning  of  this  century  by  the  ex-king  (Charles 
VII.)  and  queen  ot  Spain  and  the  'Prince  of  Peace' — is  the  huge 
apartment  of  the  hite  Cardinal  Barberini,  in  which  Cardinal  Pecci, 
brother  of  Leo  XIII.,  recently  died.  On  this  side  is  the  grand 
staircase,  upon  which  is  placed  a  lion  in  high  relief,  found  on  the 
family  property  at  Palestrina.  It  is  before  this  lion  that  Canova 
is  said  to  have  lain  for  hours  upon  the  pavement,  studying  for  his 
tomb  of  Clement  XIII.  in  S.  Peter's.  The//M«r(/(t-ro/^«,  badly  kept, 
contains  many  cuiious  relics  of  family  grandeur  ;  amongst  them  is 
a  sedan-chair  painted  by  Titian. 

'  The  Barberini  were  the  last  papal  nephews  who  aspired  to  independent  prin- 
cipalities. Urban  VIII.,  though  he  enriched  them  enormously,  appears  to  have 
been  but  little  satisfied  with  them.  He  used  to  complain  that  he  had  four 
relations  who  were  tit  for  nothing  :  first,  Cardinal  Francis,  who  was  a  saint,  and 
worked  no  miracles  ;  secondly,  Cardinal  Anthony,  who  was  a  monk,  and  had  no 
patience ;  thirdly.  Cardinal  Anthony  the  younger,  who  was  an  orator  {i.e.  an 
ambassador),  and  did  not  know  how  to  speak  ;  while  the  fourth  was  a  general, 
who  did  not  know  how  to  draw  the  sword.' — Goethe,  '  Romische  Brief e.' 

The  Library  (open  on  Thursdays  from  9  to  2)  contains  a  most 
valuable  collection  of  MSS.,  about  7000  in  number,  brought  to- 
gether by  Cardinal  Francesco  Barberini,  nephew  of  Urban  VIII. 
They  include  collections  of  letters  of  Galileo,  Bembo,  and  Bellar- 
miue ;  the  official  reports  to  Urban  VIII.  relating  to  the  state  of 
Catholicism  in  England  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  ;  a  copy  of  the 
Bible  in  the  Samaritan  character  ;  a  Bible  of  the  fourth  century  ; 
several  manuscript  copies  of  Dante  ;  a  missal  illuminated  by  Ghir- 
landajo  ;  and  a  book  of  sketches  of  ancient  Roman  edifices,  of 
1465,  by  Giuliano  di  Sangallo — most  interesting  to  the  antiquarian 
and  architect,  as  preserving  the  forms  of  many  public  buildings 
which  have  disappeared  since  that  date.  Among  the  50,000  printed 
books  is  a  Hebrew  Bible  of  1788,  one  of  the  twelve  known  copies 
of  the  complete  edition  of  Soncino  ;  a  Latin  Plato,  by  Ficino,  with 
marginal  notes  by  Tasso  and  his  father  Bernardo  ;  a  Dante  of  1477, 
with  notes  by  Bembo,  &c. 

In  the  right  wing  is  a  huge  Hall  (adorned  with  second-rate 
statues),  with  a  grand  ceiling  by  Pietro  da  Cortona  (1596-1699), 
representing  'U  Trionfo  della Gloria,'  the  t'orge  of  Vulcan,  Minerva 
annihilating  the  Titans,  and  other  mythological  subjects — much 
admired  by  Lanzi,  and  considered  by  Kugler  to  be  the  most  im- 
portant work  of  the  artist.  Four  vast  frescoes  of  the  Fathers  of 
the  Church  are  preserved  here,  having  been  removed  from  the  dome 
of  S.  Peter's,  where  they  were  replaced  with  mosaics  by  Urban  VIII. 
Below  are  other  frescoes  by  Pietro  da  Cortona,  a  portrait  of 
Urban  VIII.,  and  some  tapestries  illustrative  of  the  events  of  his 
reign  and  of  his  own  intense  self-esteem  :  thus  tlie  Virgin  and 
Angels  are  represented  bringing  in  the  ornaments  of  the  papacy  at 
his  coronation,  &c.  But  the  conceit  of  Pope  Urban  reaches  its 
climax  in  a  room  at  the  top  of  the  house,  which  exhibits  a  number 
of  the  Barberini  bees  (the  family  crest)  flocking  against  the  sun, 
and  eclipsing  it — to  typify  the  splendour  of  the  family.     The  will 

VOL.  I.  U 


306  Walks  in  Rome 

of  Pope  Urban  Vlll.  is  a  very  curious  documeut,  providing  against 
the  extinction  of  ihe  family  in  every  apparent  contingency.  This, 
however,  now  ticenis  likely  to  take  place  ;  the  heir  is  a  Sciarra.  In 
the  room  adjoining  the  great  hall  are  busts  of  Urban  VIII.  and  his 
nephews,  and  several  other  fine  works  of  sculpture,  including  a 
drunken  faun,  attributed  to  Michelangelo,  and  a  veiled  statue  by  a 
Portuguese  artist.  The  pillars  in  front  of  the  palace,  and  all  the 
surrounding  buildings,  teem  with  the  bees  of  the  Barberini,  which 
may  also  be  seen  on  the  Propaganda  and  many  other  great  Roman 
edifices,  and  which  are  creeping  up  the  robe  of  Urban  VIII.  in 
S.  Peter's.  Altogether,  the  Barberini,  more  than  any  other  Roman 
palace,  retains  a  reminiscence  of  the  stately  old  days  before  the 
Sardinian  rule,  when,  instead  of  a  meretricious  fountain  lighted  by 
electricity,  to  welcome  the  visit  of  a  king,  torches  blazed  on  every 
alternate  step  of  the  great  .staircase  to  receive  a  cardinal  ;  and 
when  not  only  the  palace,  but  the  houses  of  the  street  as  far  as 
S.  Teresa  were  hung  with  splendid  old  tapestries,  when  a  prince  of 
the  house  of  J'arberini  was  burled. 

On  the  right,  on  entering  the  palace,  is  the  small  Collection  of 
Pictures  (open  daily  from  11  till  4,  v.hen  the  custode  chooses  to  be 
there),  indiiTerently  lodged  for  a  building  so  magnificent.  Most  of 
the  pictures  are  doubtful,  but  we  may  notice:  — 

1st  Rooiii : — 

5.  Domenichino :  Adam  and  Eve. 
2nd  Room : — 

C5.  Andrea  Sacchi :  Urban  VIII. 

38.  Titian :  Cardinal  Pietro  Beniljo,  c.  1520 ;  vetouuhed. 

72.  Francia :  Madonna  and  Child,  S.  John  and  S.  Jerome. 

64.  Giovanni  Bellini  {'!) :  iladonna  and  Child. 

68.  Mengs  :  Daughter  of  Raphael  ilengs. 

78.  Masaccio  (?) :  Portrait  of  himself. 

3rd  Room : — 

76.  School  of  Paima  Vccchio  :  The  'Schiava.' 

''I'his  picture,  with  a  totally  unmeaning  name,  taken  from  the  manacles  on 
the  hands,  is  attributed  to  Titian,  but  one  of  the  well-known  "daughters  of 
Palma  Vecchio  "  was  evidently  the  model.' — Kwjler. 

79.  Claude  Lorraine :  Castel  Gandolfo. 

81.  Bronzino :  Portrait. 

82.  Albert  Barer :  Christ  among  the  Doctors — painted  in  five  days,  in  1506. 
'  Affreux  docteurs,  laids  conime  leur  science,  et  vieux  comme  leurs  grimoires." 

— Einile  Montegut. 

86.  Jiaffaelle:  The  Kornarina  (with  the  painter's  name  on  the  armlet, 
though  many  authorities  nevertheless  attribute  the  picture  to 
Sebastiano  del  Piombo). 

'  The  history  of  this  person,  to  whom  KatFaelle  was  attached  even  to  his  death, 
is  obscure,  nor  are  we  very  clear  with  regard  to  her  likenesses.  In  the  tribune 
at  Florence  there  .is  a  portrait,  inscribed  with  the  date  1512,  of  a  very  beautiful 
woman  holding  the  fur  trimming  of  her  mantle  with  her  right  hand,  which  is 
said  to  represent  her.  The  picture  is  decidedly  by  Katfaelle,  but  can  hardly 
represent  the  i'ornarina ;  at  least  it  has  no  lesemblance  to  this  portrait,  which 
has  the  name  of  Ratfaelle  on  the  armlet,  and  of  the  authenticity  of  which  (par- 


Palazzo  Barberini  307 

ticularly  with  respect  to  the  subject)  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt.  In  this  the 
figure  is  seated,  and  is  uncovered  to  the  waist ;  she  draws  a  liglit  drapery  around 
her  ;  a  shawl  is  twisted  round  her  head.  The  execution  is  l)eautif  ill  and  delicate, 
although  the  lines  are  surticiently  defined  :  the  forms  are  fine  and  not  without 
beauty,  hut  at  the  same  time  not  free  from  an  expression  of  coarseness  and 
common  life.  The  eyes  are  large,  dark,  and  full  of  fire,  and  seem  to  speak  of 
brighter  days.  There  are  repetitions  of  this  picture,  from  the  school  of  Kaffaelle, 
in  Roman  galleries.' — Kugler. 

S9.  Ponturmo :  Pygmalion. 

90.  X.  Poussin:  Death  of  German  icus. 

99.  Andrea  del  Sarto  (V):  Holy  Family. 

97.  School  of  Botticelli :  Annunciation. 

But  the  interest  of  this  collection  centres  entirely  around  two 
portraits — that  (85)  of  Lucrezia,  the  unhappy  second  wife  of  Fran- 
cesco Cenci,  by  Scipionc  Caetani,  and  that  (88)  called  Beatrice  Cenci, 
and  long  supposed  to  have  been  by  Guido  Reni,  who  was,  however, 
a  mere  boy  at  the  time  of  the  execution  of  the  Cenci,  and  was  not 
in  Rome  at  all  during  their  lifetime,  and  first  painted  there  in  1608.' 

'  The  portrait  of  Beatrice  Cenci  is  most  interesting  as  a  just  representation  of 
one  of  the  loveliest  specimens  of  the  workmanship  of  nature.  There  is  a  fixed 
and  pale  composure  upon  the  features;  she  seems  sad, and  stricken  down  in 
spirit,  yet  the  despair  thus  expressed  is  lightened  by  the  patience  of  gentleness. 
Her  head  is  bound  with  folds  of  white  drapery,  from  which  the  yellow  strings  of 
her  golden  hair  escape,  and  fall  aljout  her  neck.  The  moulding  of  her  face  is 
exiiuisitely  delicate  ;  the  eyebrows  are  distinct  and  arched  ;  the  lips  have  that 
permanent  meaning  of  imagination  and  sensibility  which  suffering  has  not  re- 
pressed, and  which  it  seems  as  if  death  scarcely  could  extinguish.  Her  forehead 
is  large  and  clear  ;  her  eyes,  which  we  are  told  were  remarkable  for  their  vivacity, 
are  swollen  with  weeping  and  lustreless,  but  beautifully  tender  and  serene.  In 
the  whole  mien  there  is  a  simplicity  and  dignity  which,  united  with  her  exquisite 
loveliness  and  deep  sorrow,  is  inexpressibly  pathetic.  Beatrice  Cenci  appears  to 
have  been  one  of  those  persons  in  whom  energy  and  gentleness  dwell  together 
without  destroying  one  another  ;  her  nature  simple  and  profound.  The  crimes 
and  miseries  in  which  she  was  an  actor  and  sufferer  are  as  the  mask  and  the 
mantle  in  which  circumstances  clothed  her  for  her  impersonation  on  the  scene 
of  the  world.' — Sliellei/'s  Preface  to  '  The  Cenci.' 

'  'The  picture  of  Beatrice  Cenci  represents  simply  a  female  head  ;  a  very  youth- 
ful, girlish,  perfectly  beautiful  face,  enveloped  in  white  drapery,  from  beneath 
which  strays  a  lock  or  two  of  what  seems  a  rich,  though  hidden,  luxuriance  of 
auburn  hair.  The  eyes  are  large  and  brown,  and  meet  those  of  the  spectator, 
evidently  with  a  strange,  ineffectual  effort  to  escape.  There  is  a  little  redness 
about  the  eyes,  very  slightly  indicated,  so  that  you  would  question  whether  or 
no  the  girl  had  been  weeping.  The  whole  face  is  very  quiet ;  there  is  no  distor- 
tion or  disturbance  of  any  single  feature  ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  see  why  the  expression 
is  not  cheerful,  or  why  a  single  touch  of  the  artist's  pencil  should  not  brighten 
it  into  joyousness.  But,  in  fact,  it  is  the  very  saddest  picture  ever  painted  or 
conceived  ;  it  involves  an  unfatliomable  depth  of  sorrow,  the  sense  of  which 
comes  to  the  observer  by  a  sort  of  intuition.  It  is  a  sorrow  that  removes  this 
beautiful  girl  out  of  the  sphere  of  humanity,  and  sets  her  in  a  far-off  region, 
the  remoteness  of  which,  while  yet  her  face  is  so  close  before  us,  makes  us  shiver 
as  at  a  spectre.  You  feel  all  the  time  you  look  at  Beatrice  as  if  she  were  trying 
to  escape  from  your  gaze.  She  knows  that  her  sorrow  is  so  strange  and  immense 
that  she  ought  to  be  solitary  for  ever  both  for  the  world's  sake  anil  her  own  ;  and 
this  is  the  reason  we  feel  such  a  distance  between  Beatrice  and  ourselves,  even 
when  our  eyes  meet  hers.    It  is  infinitely  heart-breaking  to  meet  her  glance,  and 

1  That  this  picture  was  seen  and  admired  by  Guido  Reni  is  evident  from  his 
introduction  of  the  head,  drapery,  Ac,  in  his  famous  fresco  at  S.  Gregorio.  The 
picture  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Barlierini  catalogues  of  1004  and  16'i.'.,  the  former 
of  which  was  compiled  only  five  years  after  the  death  of  Beatrice. 


308  Walks  in  Rome 

t(i  know  that  iiutliiiiK  can  lie  ddiie  to  help  or  coiiifort  her  ;  neither  does  she  ask 
helj)  or  eoiiifort,  kiiowin;;  the  hopelessness  of  her  case  better  than  we  do.  She 
is  a  fallen  an^'el-  -fallen  and  yet  sinless  ;  and  it  is  only  this  depth  of  sorrow,  with 
its  weight  and  darkness,  that  keeps  her  down  to  earth,  and  brings  her  within 
our  view  even  while  it  sets  her  beyond  our  reach.' — Hawthorne. 

'  The  portrait  of  Beatrice  Ceiici  is  a  picture  almost  impossible  to  be  forgotten. 
Through  the  transcendent  sweetness  and  beauty  of  the  face  there  is  a  something 
shining  out  that  haunts  me.  I  see  it  now,  as  I  see  this  paper  or  my  pen.  1'lie 
head  is  loosely  dra])cd  in  white ;  the  light  hair  falling  down  helow  the  linen 
folds.  She  has  turned  suddenly  towards  you  ;  and  there  is  an  expression  in  the 
eyes— although  they  are  very  tender  and  gentle— as  if  tlie  wildness  of  a  momen- 
tary terror  or  distraction  had  been  struggled  with  and  overcome  that  instant ; 
and  notliing  but  a  celestial  hope,  and  a  beautiful  sorrow,  and  a  desolate  earthly 
helplessness  remained.  Some  stoiies  say  that  Guido  painted  it  the  night  before 
her  execution ;  some  other  stories,  tliat  he  painted  it  from  memory,  after  having 
seen  her  on  her  way  to  the  seaftold.  I  am  willing  to  believe  that,  as  you  see 
her  on  his  canvas,  so  she  turned  towards  him  in  the  crowd,  fnjm  tlie  first  sight 
of  the  axe,  and  stami)ed  upon  his  mind  a  look  which  he  has  stamped  on  mine  as 
though  I  had  stood  beside  bin-  in  tlie  concc^urse.  The  guilty  palace  of  the  Cenci 
— blighting  a  whole  cjuarter  of  tne  town,  as  it  stands  withering  away  by  grains — 
had  that  lace,  to  my  fancy,  in  its  dismal  pcjrch,  and  at  its  black  blind  windows, 
and  Hitting  up  and  down  its  dreary  stairs,  and  growing  out  of  the  darkness  of  its 
ghostly  galleries.  The  history  is  written  in  the  painting;  written,  in  the  dying 
girl's  face,  by  Nature's  own  hand.  And  oh  !  how  in  that  one  touch  she  puts  to 
flight  (instead  of  making  kin)  the  puny  world  that  claims  to  be  related  to  her,  in 
right  of  poor  conventional  forgeries  ! ' — Dickens. 

Till  late  years,  there  was  a  pretty  old-fashioned  garden  belonging 
to  thi.s  palace,  at  one  corner  of  which — overhanging  an  old  statue — 
stood  the  celebrated  Barberini  Pine,  often  drawn  by  artists  from 
the  Via  Sterrata  at  the  back  of  the  garden,  where  statue  and  pine 
combined  well  with  the  Church  of  S.  Caio  ;  but  alas  !  this  magni- 
ficent tree  was  cut  down  in  1872,  and  the  church  has  since  been 
destroyed. 

At  the  back  of  the  palace-court,  behind  the  arched  bridge  leading 
to  the  garden,  is — let  into  the  wall — an  inscrij^tion  which  formed 
part  of  the  dedication  of  the  arch  erected  to  Claudius  by  the  senate 
and  people,  in  honour  of  the  conquest  of  Britain.  The  letters  were 
inlaid  with  bronze.  It  was  found  near  the  Palazzo  yciarra,  where 
the  arch  is  supposed  to  have  stood.  In  front  of  the  palace,  a  statue 
of  Thorwaldsen  commemorates  the  fact  of  his  studio  having  been  in 
the  neighbouring  street. 

Ascending  to  the  summit  of  the  bill,  we  find  four  ugly  statues  of 
river-gods  lying  over  the  Quattro  Fontane,  from  which  the  street 
takes  its  name. 

On  the  left  is  the  Palazzo  Albani  del  Drago,  restored  by  the  late 
Queen  Christina  of  Spain.  Here  on  the  staircase  are  two  of  the 
curious  representations  in  opus  scctilc  ia<irmoreum  which  formerly 
existed  in  the  Church  of  S.  Antonio.  The  site  of  this  palace  and 
the  opposite  church  was  probably  that  of  the  Flavian  house  in 
which  Domitian  was  born,  and  the  mausoleum  in  which  he  was 
buried  by  the  side  of  Vespasian,  Flavins  Sabinus  his  brother, 
Titus,  and  Julia  daughter  of  Titus.  Ligorio  describes  the  latter 
structure  as  a  round  temple,  with  a  pronaos  of  six  composite 
columns. 


S.  Andrea  a  Monte  Cavallo  309 

'In  one  of  the  palace  rooms  is  a  very  ancieiil  paintin^iof  Jupiter  anil  Ganymede, 
in  a  very  uncommon  style,  uniting  consideralile  jjranileur  of  conception,  great 
force  and  decision,  and  a  deep  tone  and  colour,  which  produce  great  effect.  It 
is  said  to  be  Grecian.' — Eaton's  '  Home.' 

The  opposite  church,  S.  Carlo  a  Quattro  Fontane,  is  worth 
observing,  from  the  fact  that  the  wliole  building,  ciiurch  and 
convent,  corresponds  with  one  of  the  four  piers  supporting  the 
cupola  of  S.  Peter's.  Here  was  formed  the  point  of  attack  against 
the  Quirinal  Palace,  November  16,  1<S4S,  which  caused,  the  flight 
of  Pius  IX.  and  the  downfall  of  his  government.  From  a  window 
of  this  convent  the  shot  was  fired  which  killed  Monsignor  Palma, 
— one  of  the  pontifical  secretaries,  and  a  writer  on  ecclesiastical 
history — who  had  unfortunately  exposed  himself  at  one  of  the 
windows  opposite.  The  church  contains  two  pictures  by  Mignard 
relating  to  the  history  of  S.  Carlo. 

A  steep  street,  wliich  leads  towards  the  fountain  of  Trevi  from 
hence,  probably  crosses  the  site  of  the  Porta  Sangualis.^  Nearer  to 
the  Quattro  Fontane  was  the  Porta  Salutaris. 

Turning  (right)  down  Via  del  Quirinale,  one  side  of  the  street  is  oc- 
cupied by  the  immense  portion  of  the  Quirinal  Palace  formerly  used 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  cardinals  collected  and  imprisoned 
during  the  papal  conclaves.  On  the  left  is  S.  Andrea  a  Monte 
Cavallo  (on  the  supposed  site  of  the  Temple  of  Quirinus),  erected,  as 
is  told  by  an  inscription  inside,  bj'  Camillo  Pamfili,  nephew  of 
Innocent  X.,  from  designs  of  Ijernini.  It  has  a  corinthian  fa^^ade 
and  a  projecting  semicircular  portico  with  ionic  columns.  The 
interior  is  oval.  It  is  exceedingly  rich,  being  almost  entirely  lined 
with  red  marble  streaked  with  white  (Sicilian  jasper),  divided  by 
white  marble  pillars  supporting  a  gilt  cupola.  The  high  altar — sup- 
posed to  cover  the  body  of  S.  Zeno — between  really  magnificent 
pillars,  is  surmounted  by  a  fine  picture,  b^y  Bonjognone,  of  the 
crucifixion  of  S.  Andrew.  Near  this  is  the  tomb,  by  Festa,  of 
Emmanuel  IV.,  king  of  Sardinia,  who  abdicated  his  throne  in  1802, 
to  become  a  Jesuit  monk  in  the  adjoining  convent,  where  he  died 
in  18LS.  On  the  right  is  the  chapel  of  Santa  Croce,  with  three 
pictures  of  the  passion  and  death  of  Christ,  by  Brandlni ;  and  that 
of  S.  Francis  Xavier,  with  three  pictures  by  Baciecio,  representing 
the  saint  preaching — baptizing  an  Indian  queen — and  lying  dead 
in  the  island  of  Sancian  in  China.  On  the  left  is  the  chapel  of  the 
Virgin,  with  pictures,  by  David,  of  the  three  great  Jesuit  saints — 
S.  Ignatius  Loyola,  S.  Francis  Borgia,  and  S.  Luigi  Gonzaga — adoring 
the  Virgin,  and,  by  Gerard  de  la  Niiit,  of  the  Adoration  of  the 
Shepherds  and  of  the  Magi  ;  and  lastly  the  chapel  of  S.  Stanislas 
Kostka,  containing  his  shrine  of  gold  and  lapis-lazuli,  under  an 
exceedingly  rich  altar,  which  is  adorned  with  a  beautiful  picture  by 
Carlo  Maratta,  representing  the  saint  receiving  the  infant  Jesus 
from  the  arms  of  His  mother.     At  the  sides  of  the  chapel  are  two 


1  Livy,  viii.  20. 


310  Walks  in  Rome 

other  pictures  by  Maratta,  one  of  which  represents  S.  Stanislas 
'  bathiri£j  with  water  his  breast  inflamed  with  divine  love,'  the  other 
his  receiving  the  liost  from  the  hands  of  an  angel.  These  are  the 
three  principal  incidents  in  the  story  of  the  young  S.  Stanislas,  who 
belonged  to  a  noble  Polish  family  and  abandoned  the  world  to  shut 
himself  up  here,  saying,  '  I  am  not  born  for  the  good  things  of  this 
world  ;  that  which  my  heart  desires  is  the  good  things  of  eternity.' 

'T  have  Inng  ago  exhausted  all  my  capacity  of  adniiratioii  for  splendid  in- 
teriors of  churches  :  but  niethinks  this  little,  little  temple  (it  is  not  more  than 
fifty  or  sixty  feet  across)  has  a  more  perfect  and  }jrem-like  beauty  than  any  other. 
Its  shape  is  oval,  with  an  oval  dome,  and  aliove  that  another  little  dome,  both 
of  which  are  magnificently  frescoed.  Around  the  base  of  the  larger  dome  is 
wreathed  a  flight  of  angels,  and  the  smaller  and  upper  one  is  encircled  by  a 
garland  of  cherubs  —cherub  and  angel  all  of  pure  white  marble.  The  oval  centre 
of  the  church  is  walled  round  with  precious  and  lustrous  marlile.  of  a  red-veined 
variety  interspersed  with  columns  and  pilasters  of  white  ;  and  there  are  arches, 
opening  through  this  rich  wall,  forming  chajjels,  which  the  architect  seems  to 
have  striven  hard  to  make  even  more  gorgeous  than  the  main  body  of  the  church. 
The  pavement  is  one  star  of  various  tinted  nuuliles.' — Hawthorne,  'yoteson  Italy.' 

Pope  Leo  XIII.  (Vincenzo  Pecci)  said  his  first  mass  in  this  chapel. 
The  early  mass  in  the  church  is  frequently  attended  by  Queen 
Margherita — 'the  Pearl  of  Savoy.' 

The  adjoining  Convent  of  tlie  Noviciate  of  the  Order  of  Jesus 
contains  the  room  in  which  S.  Stanislas  Kostka  died,  at  the  age 
of  eighteen,  with  his  reclining  statue  by  Ze  Gros,  the  body  in  white, 
his  dress  (that  of  a  novice)  in  black,  and  the  couch  upon  which  he 
lies  in  yellow  marble.  Beyond  his  statue  is  a  picture  of  a  celestial 
vision  which  consoled  him  in  his  last  moments.  On  the  day  of  his 
death,  November  13th,  the  convent  is  thrown  open,  and  mass  is  said 
without  ceasing  in  this  chamber,  which  is  visited  by  thousands. 

'  La  petite  chambre  de  S.  Stanislas  Kostka  est  un  de  ces  lieux  oii  la  prifere 
nait  spontanement  dans  le  coeur,  et  s'en  echappe  comme  par  un  cours  naturel.' 
—  Veuillot,  '  Parfum  de  Rome.'  i 

In  the  neighbouring  corridor  of  the  convent,  the  original  doors 
which  led  to  the  cells  of  S.  Francesco  Borgia  and  S.  Ignazio  della 
Vigna  are  preserved.  In  the  convent  garden  is  shown  the  fountain 
where  '  the  angels  used  to  bathe  the  breast  of  S.  Stanislas  burning 
with  the  love  of  Christ.' 

Near  this  church  one  of  the  ancient  altars  erected  to  demand  the 
divine  protection  against  fire,  after  the  great  fire  under  Nero,  was 
discovered  in  1889. 

Gardens  now  take  the  place  of  the  old  Benedictine  convent,  which 
had  a  courtyard  containing  a  sarcophagus  as  a  fountain,  and  a 
humble  church  decorated  with  rude  frescoes  of  S.  Benedict  and  S. 
Scholastica  ;  also  of  a  small  and  popular  church,  rich  in  marbles, 
belonging   to    the    Perpetue   Adoratrici   del   Divino  Sacramento   del 


1  '  Dens,  qui  inter  caetera  sapientiae  tuae  miracula  etiam  in  tenera  aetate 
maturae  sanctitatis  gratiam  contulisti ;  da,  quaesumus,  ut  beati  Stanislai 
exemplo,  tempus,  instanter  operando,  redimentes,  in  aeternam  ingredi  requiem 
festinemus.' — Collect  of  SS.  Kostka,  Rovian  Vesper-Book. 


Piazza  di  Monte  Cavallo  311 

Altarc,  founded  by  Sister  Maddalenu  of  the  Incarnation,  who  died 
1829,  and  was  buried  on  the  right  of  the  entrance.  Here  the  low 
monotonous  chant  of  the  perpetual  adoration  might  be  constantly 
heard.  These  interesting  buildings  were  all  destroyed  in  1888,  to 
make  a  garden  in  front  of  the  rooms  which  were  to  be  occupied  for 
a  few  days  by  the  Emperor  of  Germany  !  In  this  hitherto  sacred 
position,  a  monument  to  King  Charles  Albert  of  Savoy  (wholly 
unconnected  with  Rome)  was  erected  in  1898. 

The  Piazza  of  the  Monte  Cavallo  has  in  its  centre  the  red  granite 
obelisk  (ninety-five  feet  high  with  its  base)  erected  here  by  Antinori 
in  1781  for  Pius  VI.  It  was  originally  brought  from  Egypt  by 
Claudius,  A.D.  57,  together  with  the  obelisk  now  in  front  of  S.  Maria 
Maggiore,  and  they  were  both  first  placed  at  the  entrance  of  the 
mausoleum  of  Augustus.  At  its  base  are  the  colossal  statues  found 
in  the  Baths  of  Constantine,  of  the  Dioscuri,  Castor  and  Pollux, 
reining  in  their  horses.  These  statues,  which,  according  to  an  old 
tradition,  were  a  present  to  Nero  from  Tiridates,  give  a  name  to  the 
district.  Their  bases  bear  the  names  of  Phidias  and  Praxiteles,  and, 
though  they  have  no  claim  to  be  the  work  of  such  distinguished 
sculptors,  they  are  probably  copies  of  bronze  originals  of  Greek 
origin.  The  original  position  of  the  figures — the  men  facing  the 
horses  and  holding  them  in  as  the)'  rear — has  been  learnt  from  coins, 
and  reproduced  in  statues  on  the  top  of  the  Museum  at  Berlin,  where 
they  have  the  nicknames  of  Gehemmter  Fortschritt  and  Beforderter 
Riickschritt — Progress  checked  and  Retrogression  encouraged. 

The  story  of  the  horses,  as  believed  in  the  Middle  Ages,  is  given 
in  the  Mirabilia  : — 

'  In  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius  there  came  to  Rome  two  young  men  that 
were  philosophers,  named  Praxiteles  and  Phidias,  whom  the  emperor,  observing 
them  to  be  of  so  much  wisdom,  kept  nigh  unto  himself  in  his  palace  ;  and  he  said 
to  them,  "Wherefore  do  ye  go  abroad  naked?"  who  answered  and  said,  "Be- 
cause all  things  are  naked  and  open  to  us,  and  we  hold  the  world  of  no  account, 
therefore  we  go  naked  and  possess  nothing  ; "  and  they  said,  "  Whatsoever  thou, 
most  mighty  emperor,  shalt  devise  In  thy  chamber  by  day  or  night,  albeit  we  be 
absent,  we  will  tell  it  thee  every  word."  "  If  ye  shall  do  that  ye  say, '  said  the 
emperor,  "  I  will  give  you  what  thing  soever  ye  shall  desire."  They  answered 
and  said,  "We  ask  no  money,  liut  only  a  memorial  of  us."  And  when  the  next 
day  was  come,  they  showed  luito  the  emperor  in  order  whatsoever  he  had  thought 
of  in  that  night.  Therefore  he  made  them  the  memorial  that  he  had  promised, 
to  wit,  the  naked  horses,  which  trample  on  the  earth— that  is,  upon  the  mighty 
princes  of  the  world  that  rule  over  the  men  of  this  world  ;  and  there  shall  come 
a  full  mighty  king,  which  shall  mount  the  horses,  that  is,  upon  the  might  of  the 
princes  of  this  world.  Jleanwhile  there  be  the  two  men  half  naked,  which  stand 
by  the  horses,  and  with  arms  raised  on  high  and  bent  fingers  tell  the  things  that 
are  to  be  ;  and  as  they  lie  naked,  so  is  all  worldly  knowledge  naked  and  open  to 
their  minds.' — Ti-aiis.  by  F.  M.  Nichols. 

'  From  this  fable,  wild  and  absurd  as  it  is,  we  may  nevertheless  draw  the  in- 
ference that  the  statues  had  been  handed  down  from  time  immemorial  as  the 
works  of  Phidias  and  Praxiteles,  though  those  artists  had  in  the  lapse  of  ages 
been  metamorphosed  into  philosophers.  May  we  not  also  assume  the  existence 
of  a  tradition  that  the  statues  were  brought  to  Rome  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius? 
In  the  Middle  Ages  the  group  appears  to  have  been  accompanied  by  a  statue  of 
Medusa,  sitting  at  their  feet,  and  having  before  her  a  shell.  According  to  the 
text  of  the  Mirabilia,  as  given  by  Montfaucon  in  his  Diarium  Italicuin,  this 
Hgure  represented  the  Church.     The  snakes  which  surrounded  her  typified  the 


312  Walks  in  Rome 

volumes  of  Scripture,  whicli  iioliody  (■i>iil<l  approach  unless  he  had  first  heeii 
wixshed— that  is,  baptized-  in  the  water  of  the  shell.  But  the  Praijue  MS.  of 
the  Mirnliilia  interprets  the  female  tlnure  to  represent  Science,  and  the  serpents 
to  typify  the  disputed  (luestions  with  whicli  she  is  concerned.'— /).'/?'■'«  '  fl'xt.  of 
the  City  of  Borne.' 

'  L'iniitation  du  jirand  style  de  Phidias  est  visible  dans  phisieurs  sculptures 
qu'il  a  inspir^es,  et  surtout  dans  les  colosses  de  Castor  et  Pollux,  domptant  des 
chevaux,  qui  out  fait  donner  ii  une  partie  du  mont  Quirinal  le  nom  de  Monte 
Cavallo. 

'  II  ne  faut  faire  aucune  attention  aux  inscriptions  qui  attribuent  un  des  deux 
colosses  ii  Phidias  et  I'autre  a  Praxitele,  Praxitele  dont  le  style  n'a  rien  a  faire  ici ; 
son  nom  a  ct6  inscrit  sur  la  liase  de  I'une  des  deux  statues,  comnie  Phedre  le  re- 
prochait  deja  a  des  faussaires  du  temps  d'.A.uguste,  (pii  croyaient  auRinenter  le 
morite  d'un  nouvel  ouvra^'e  en  y  mettant  le  nom  de  Praxitele.  CJuelle  (jue  soit 
I'opoque  oil  les  colosses  de  Monte  Cavallo  out  et&  executes,  nialgiu  quelques 
differences,  on  doit  affirmer  que  les  deux  originaux  etaient  de  la  meme  ecole,  de 
Tecole  de  Phidias.'— Ampere,  Hist.  Rom.  iii.  252. 

'  Chacun  des  deux  hcros  dompte  d'une  seule  main  un  cheval  fougueux  qui  se 
cabi'e.  Ces  formes  colossales.  cette  lutte  de  I'homme  avec  les  animaux,  donnent, 
comme  tous  les  ouvrages  des  anciens,  une  admirable  idee  de  la  i)uissance  physicpie 
de  la  nature  huniaine.' — Afad  de  StcO'l. 

'  Ye  too,  marvellous  Twain,  that  erect  on  the  Monte  Cavallo 
Stand  by  your  rearing  steeds  in  the  grace  of  your  motionless  movement, 
Stand  with  upstretched  arms  and  tranquil  regardant  faces. 
Stand  as  instinct  with  life  in  the  might  of  immutable  manhood,— 
O  ye  mighty  and  strange,  ye  ancient  divine  ones  of  Hellas.' 

—Clovgli. 

'  Before  me  were  the  two  Monte  Cavallo  statues,  towering  gigantically  above 
the  pygmies  of  the  present  day,  and  looking  like  Titans  in  the  act  of  threatening 
heaven.  Over  my  head  the  stars  were  just  beginning  to  look  out,  and  might  have 
been  taken  for  guardian  angels  kee])ing  watch  over  the  temples  below.  Behind, 
and  on  my  left,  were  jjalaces  ;  on  my  riirbt,  gardens,  and  hills  beyond,  with  the 
orange  tints  of  sunset  over  them  stiil  glowing  in  the  distance.  Within  a  stone's 
throw  of  me.  in  the  midst  of  objects  thus  glorious  in  themselves,  and  thus  in 
harmony  with  each  other,  was  stuck  an  unplaned  post,  on  which  glimmered  a 
paper  lantern.     Such  is  Rome.' — '  Giiesnes  at  Truth.' 

'  Pius  VI.  changed  the  position  of  the  statues  and  turned  them  round,  and  the 
ever-conservative  and  ever-discontented  Roman  people  were  disgusted  by  the 
change.  On  the  pedestal  of  one  of  them  are  the  words  "Opus  Phidiae. "  A 
punning  placard  was  at  once  stuck  upon  the  inscription  with  the  legend,  "  Opus 
Pertidiae  Pii  Sexti." '—/<'.  Marion  Crawford. 

Clo.'^e  by  is  a  fountain  playing  into  a  fine  basin  of  Egyptian 
granite,  brought  hither  by  Pius  VII.  from  the  Forum,  where  it  had 
long  been  used  for  watering  cattle. 

On  the  left  is  the  Palace  of  the  Consulta,  built  in  17S0  by  Clement 
XII.  (Corsini),  from  designs  of  Fuua.  Before  its  gates,  under  the 
popes,  some  of  the  Guardia  Nobile  were  always  to  be  seen  sunning 
themselves  in  a  uniform  so  resplendent  that  it  was  scarcely  to  be 
believed  that  the  pay  of  this  '  noble  guard'  of  the  pope  amounted 
only  to  £5,  6s.  3d.  a  month. 

On  the  right  is  the  immense  Palace  of  the  Quirinal,  now  the 
Royal  Palace,  which  also  extends  along  one  whole  side  of  the  street 
we  have  been  pursuing.  It  may  be  visited  on  Thursday  and  Sunday 
from  12  to  3,  with  a  permesso  to  be  obtained  between  10  and  12  at 
the  Ministero  della  Casa  Reale.  in  the  Via  del  Quirinale.  near  S- 
Andrea- 


Quirinal  Palace  313 

'That  paliice-buikliii^',  luiii-ilestioying  pope,  Paul  IV.,  began  to  erect  the 
enoinious  palace  on  the  Quirhial  Hill ;  and  the  prolongation  of  his  labours,  by 
a  long  series  of  successive  pontiffs,  has  made  it  one  of  the  largest  and  ugliest 
buildings  exta.nt.'— Eatonn  '  Jiome.' 

The  chief,  indeed  almost  the  only,  interest  of  this  palace  arises  from  its  having 
been  the  favourite  residence  of  Pius  VII.  (Chiaramonte).  It  was  here  that  he 
was  taken  prisoner  by  the  French  General  Radet  forced  his  way  into  the  pope's 
room  on  the  night  of  June  Gth,  1809,  and,  while  excusing  himself  for  being  the 
messenger,  hastily  intimated  to  the  pontiff,  in  the  name  of  the  emperor,  that  he 
must  at  once  abdicate  his  temporal  sovereignty.  Pins  absolutely  refused,  upon 
which  he  was  forced  to  descend  the  staircase,  and  found  a  coach  waiting  at  the 
entrance  of  the  palace.  Here  the  pope  paused,  his  face  streaming  with  tears, 
and.  standing  in  the  starlit  piazza,  solemnly  e.xtended  his  arms  in  benediction 
over  his  sleeping  people.  Then  he  entered  the  carriage,  followed  by  Cardinal 
Pacca,  and  was  hurried  away  to  exile.  .  .  .  '  Whirled  away  through  the  heat 
and  dust  of  an  Italian  snmmer's  day,  without  an  attendant,  without  linen,  with- 
out his  spectacles— fevered  and  wearied,  he  never  for  a  moment  lost  his  serenity. 
Cardinal  Pacca  tells  us,  that  when  they  had  just  started  on  this  most  dismal  of 
journeys,  the  pope  asked  him  if  he  had  any  money.  The  secretary  of  state 
replied,  that  he  had  had  no  opportunity  of  providing  himself.  "  We  then  drew 
forth  ofir  purses,"  continues  the  cardinal,  "and,  notwithstanding  the  state  of 
affliction  we  were  in  at  being  thus  torn  away  from  Rome  and  all  that  was  deal' 
to  us,  we  could  hardly  compose  our  countenances,  on  finding  the  contents  of 
each  purse  to  consist — of  the  pope's,  of  a  papetto  (lOd.),  and  of  mine,  of  three 
grossi  (7Ad.).  We  had  precisely  thirty-flve  baiocchi  between  us.  The  pope,  ex- 
tending his  hand,  showed  his  papetto  to  General  Radet,  saying,  at  the  same  time, 
"  Look  here — this  is  all  I  possess."  '  ^  .  .  .  Six  years  after  Napoleon  was  sent  to 
St.  Helena,  and  Pius  VII.  returned  in  triumph  to  Rome  ! 

It  was  from  this  same  palace  that  Pius  IX. — who  never  afterwards 
inhabited  it — made  his  escape  to  Gaeta  during  the  Revolution  of 
1848,  when  the  siege  of  the  Qairinal  by  the  insurgents  had  succeeded 
in  extorting  the  appointment  of  a  democratic  ministry. 

'  On  the  afternoon  of  November  24th,  the  Due  d'Harcourt  had  arrived  at  the 
Quirinal  in  his  coach  as  ambassador  of  France,  and  craved  an  audience  of  the 
sovereign.  The  guards  wondered  that  he  stayed  so  long ;  but  they  knew  not 
that  he  sat  reading  the  newspapers  in  the  papal  study,  while  the  pope  had  retired 
to  his  bedroom  to  change  his  dress.  Here  his  major-domo,  Fllippani,  had  laid 
out  the  lilack  cassock  and  dress  of  an  ordinary  priest.  The  pontiff  took  off  his 
purple  stole  and  white  pontifical  robe,  and  came  forth  in  the  simple  garb  he  had 
worn  in  his  quiet  youth.  The  Due  d'Harcourt  threw  himself  on  his  knees,  ex- 
claiming, "Go  forth,  holy  Father;  divine  wisdom  inspires  this  counsel,  divine 
power  will  lead  it  to  a  happy  end."  By  secret  passages  and  narrow  staircases 
Pius  IX.  and  his  trusty  servant  passed  unseen  to  a  little  door,  used  only  occa- 
sionally for  the  Swiss  guards,  and  by  which  they  were  to  leave  the  palace.  They 
reached  it,  and  bethought  them  that  the  key  had  been  forgotten  !  F'ilippani 
hastened  back  to  the  papal  a]iartment  to  fetch  it ;  and  returning  unquestioned 
to  the  wicket,  found  the  pontilf  on  his  knees,  and  quite  absorbed  in  prayer.  The 
wards  were  rusty,  and  the  key  turned  with  difficulty  ;  but  the  door  was  opened 
at  last,  and  the  holy  fugitive  and  his  servant  quickly  entered  a  poor  hackney 
coach  that  was  waiting  for  them  outside.  Here  again  they  ran  risk  of  being 
discovered  through  the  thoughtless  adherence  to  old  etiquette  of  the  other 
servant,  who  stood  by  the  coach,  and  who,  having  let  down  the  steps,  knelt, 
as  usual,  before  he  shut  the  door. 

'  The  pope  wore  a  dark  greatcoat  over  his  priest's  cassock,  a  low-crowned  round 
hat,  and  a  broad  brown  woollen  neckcloth  outside  his  straight  Roman  collar. 
Filippani  had  on  his  usual  loose  cloak  ;  but  under  this  he  carried  the  three- 
cornered  hat  of  the  pope,  a  bundle  of  the  most  private  and  secret  papers,  the 

J  .Cardinal  Wiseman's  ^LiJ>.  of  Pius  VJI.' 


314  Walks  in  Rome 

papal  seals,  the  l)reviary,  the  cvnss-cnihroidered  slippers,  a  small  quantity  of 
linen,  ami  a  little  liox  full  of  !j:ol(l  medals  stamped  with  the  likeness  of  his  Holi- 
ness. From  the  inside  of  the  carriase  he  directed  thr  coa<liman  to  follow  many 
winding  and  diverging  streets,  in  the  liope  of  misleailiiii.'  the  spies,  who  were 
known  to  swarm  at  every  corner.  Beside  the  Chunh  of  K.S.  Pietro  e  JIarcellino, 
in  the  deserted  quarter  beyond  the  Coliseum,  tluy  found  the  Bavarian  minister, 
(""ount  Spaur,  waiting  in  his  own  private  carriage,  and  imagining  every  danger 
which  could  have  detained  them  so  long.  The  sovereign  pressed  the  hand  of 
his  faithful  Kilippani  and  entered  the  Count's  carriage.  Silently  they  ilrove 
on  through  the  old  gate  of  Rome— Count  Spaur  having  there  shown  the  passport 
of  the  Bavarian  minister  going  to  Naples  on  affairs  of  state. 

'  -Meanwhile  the  Due  d'Harcourt  grew  tired  of  reading  the  newspapers  in  the 
Pope's  study  ;  and  when  he  thought  that  his  Holiness  must  be  far  beyond  the 
walls  of  Rome,  he  left  the  palace,  and  taking  post-horses,  hastened  with  all  speed 
to  overtake  the  fugitive  on  the  road  to  Civita  Vecchia,  whither  he  believed  him 
to  be  flying.  As  he  left  the  study  in  the  ijuirinal,  a  prelate  entered  with  a  large 
bundle  of  ecclesiastical  papers,  on  which,  he  said,  he  had  to  confer  with  the  Pope  ; 
then  his  chamberlain  went  in  to  read  to  him  his  breviary  and  the  office  of  the 
day.  The  rooms  were  lighted  up,  and  the  supper  taken  in  as  usual ;  and  at 
length  it  was  stated  that  his  H..liuess,  feeling  somewhat  unwell,  had  retired 
to  rest ;  and  his  attendants  and  the  guard  of  honour  were  dismissed  for  the 
night.  It  is  true  that  a  certain  prelate,  who  chanced  to  see  the  little  door  by 
which  the  fugitive  had  escaped  into  the  street  left  open,  began  to  cry  out,  "The 
pope  has  escaped  !  the  pope  has  escaped  ! "  But  Prince  Gabrielli  was  beside 
him,  and  clapping  his  hand  upon  the  mouth  of  the  alarmist,  silenced  him 
in  time,  by  whispering,  "Be  quiet,  Monsignorc ;  be  quiet,  or  we  shall  be  cut 
to  pieces ! " 

'  Xear  La  Riccia,  the  fugitives  found  Countess  Spaur  (who  had  arranged  the 
whole  plan  of  the  escape)  waiting  with  a  coach  and  six  horses,  in  which  they 
pursued  their  journey  to  Gaeta,  reaching  the  Neapolitan  frontier  between  five 
and  six  in  the  morning.  The  pope  throughout  carried  with  him  the  sacrament 
in  the  pyx  which  Pius  the  Seventh  carried  when  he  was  taken  prisoner  to  France, 
and  which,  as  if  with  prescience  of  what  would  happen,  had  been  lately  sent  to 
him  as  a  memorial  Ijy  the  Bishop  of  Avignon.' — Bestc 

On  the  death  of  Pius  VII.  in  the  Quirinal  Palace,  the  cardinals 
met  here  for  the  election  of  his  successor,  in  accordance  with  the 
law  prescribing  that  a  conclave  shall  meet  in  the  palace  where  the 
pope  dies.  Without  warranty  of  any  kind,  however,  the  conclaves 
which  resulted  in  the  elections  of  Leo  XII.,  Pius  VIII.,  Gregory  XVI., 
and  Pius  IX.,  also  met  in  the  Quirinal  Palace,  to  the  desertion  of 
the  Vatican. 

'In  the  afternoon  of  the  last  day  of  the  novendiali,  as  they  are  called,  after 
the  death  of  a  pope,  the  cardinals  a.ssemble  (at  S.  Silvestro  a  Monte  Cavallo), 
and  walk  in  procession,  accompanied  by  their  conclavist!,  a  secretary,  a  chap- 
lain, and  a  servant  or  two,  to  the  great  gate  of  the  royal  residence,  in  which  one 
will  remain  as  master  and  supreme  lord.  Of  course  the  hill  is  crowded  by 
persons  lining  the  avenue  kept  open  for  the  procession.  Cardinals  never  before 
seen  by  them,  or  not  for  many  years,  pass  before  them  ;  eager  eyes  scan  and 
measure  them,  and  try  to  conjecture,  from  fancied  omens  in  eye,  in  figure,  or  in 
expression,  who  will  "be  shortly  the  sovereign  of  their  fair  city  ;  and,  what  is 
much  more,  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church,  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun. 
They  all  enter  equal  over  the  threshold  of  that  gate  :  they  share  together  the 
supreme  rule,  spiritual  and  temporal :  there  is  still  embosomed  in  them  all  the 
voice,  yet  silent,  that  will  soon  sound  from  one  tongue  over  all  the  world,  and 
the  dormant  germ  of  that  authority  which  will  so(ni  again  be  concentrated  in 
one  man  alone.  To-day  they  are  all  e(|ual ;  perhaps  to-morrow  one  will  sit 
enthroned,  and  all  the  rest  will  kiss  his  feet ;  one  will  be  sovereign,  and  others 
his  subjects  ;  one  the  shepherd,  and  the  others  his  flock.  .  .  . 

•From  the  (Quirinal  Palace  stretches  out,  the  length  of  a  whole  street,  an 
immense  wing,  divided  in   its  two  upper  floors  into  a  great  number  of  small 


J 


Quirinal  Palace  315 

but  complete  suites  of  apartmeuts,  occujiied  permanently  or  occasionally  by 
persons  attached  to  the  Court.  During  conclave  these  are  allotted,  literally  so, 
to  the  cardinals,  each  of  whom  lives  apart  with  his  own  attendants.  His  food  i.s 
brouglit  daily  from  his  own  house,  and  is  overhauled,  and  delivered  to  him  in 
the  shape  of  "broken  victuals,"  by  the  watchful  guardians  of  the  turns  and 
lattices,  through  which  alone  anything,  even  conversation,  can  penetrate  into 
the  seclusion  of  that  sacred  retreat.  For  a  few  hours  the  first  evening  the 
doors  are  left  open,  and  the  nobility,  the  diplomatic  body,  and,  in  fact,  all 
presentable  persons,  may  roam  from  cell  to  cell,  paying  a  brief  compliment  to 
its  occupant,  perhaps  speaking  the  same  good  wishes  to  fifty,  which  they  know- 
can  only  be  accomplished  in  one.  After  that,  all  is  closed.  A  wicket  is  left 
accessilile  for  any  cardinal  to  enter  who  is  not  yet  arrived  ;  but  every  aperture 
is  jealously  guarded  by  faithful  janitors,  judges  and  prelates  of  varioustribunals, 
who  relieve  one  another.  Every  letter  even  is  opened  and  read,  that  no  com- 
munication may  be  held  with  the  outer  world.  The  very  street  on  which  the 
wing  of  the  conclave  looks  is  Viarrlcaded  and  guarded  by  a  picket  at  each  end  ; 
and  as,  fortunately,  opposite  there  are  no  private  residences,  and  all  the  build- 
ings have  access  from  the  back,  no  inconvenience  is  thereby  created.  ...  In  the 
meantime,  witliin,  and  unseen  from  without, /('/■re?  npus. 

'  Twice  a  day  the  cardinals  meet  in  the  chapel  belonging  to  the  palace,  included 
in  the  enclosure,  and  there,  on  tickets  so  arranged  that  the  voter's  name  cannot 
Ite  seen,  write  the  name  of  him  for  whom  they  give  tlieir  suffrage.  These  papers 
are  examined  in  their  presence,  and  if  the  number  of  votes  given  to  any  one  do 
not  constitute  the  majority,  they  are  burnt  In  such  a  manner  that  the  smoke 
(the  sptimata),  issuing  through  a  flue,  is  visible  to  the  crowd  usually  assembled 
in  the  square  outside.  Some  day,  instead  of  this  usual  signal  to  disperse,  the 
sound  of  pick  and  hammer  is  heard,  a  small  opening  is  seen  in  the  wall  which 
had  temporarily  blocked  up  the  great  window  over  the  palace  gateway.  At  last 
the  masons  of  the  conclave  have  opened  a  rude  door,  through  which  steps  out 
on  the  balcony  the  first  cardinal  deacon,  and  proclaims  to  the  many,  or  to  the 
few,  who  may  happen  to  l)e  in  waiting,  that  they  again  possess  a  sovereign  and 
a  pontiff.'  ^—Cardinal  Wiseman. 

'  Sais-tu  ce  que  c'est  qu'un  conclave?  Une  reunion  de  vieillards,  moins  occup6s 
du  ciel  que  de  la  terre,  et  dont  quelques-uns  se  font  plus  maladifs,  plus  goutteux, 
et  plus  cacochymes  qu'ils  ne  le  sont  encore,  dans  I'esperance  d'inspirer  un  vif 
IntSret  a  leurs  partisans.  Grand  nombre  d'eminences  ne  renon§ant  jamais  h  la 
possibilite  d'une  election,  le  rival  le  plus  pres  de  la  tombe  excite  toujours  le 
moins  de  repugnance.  Un  rhumatisme  est  ici  un  titre  a  la  confiance  ;  I'hydropisie 
a  ses  partisans  :  car  I'ambition  et  la  mort  eomptent  sur  les  memes  chances.  Le 
cercueil  sert  comme  de  niarchepied  au  trone ;  et  il  y  a  tel  pieux  candidat  qui 
negocierait  avec  son  concurrent,  si  la  duree  du  nouveau  rfegne  pouvait  avoir  son 
terme  obligatoire  comme  celui  d'un  effet  de  commerce.  Eh  !  ne  sais-tu  pas  toi- 
meme  que  le  patre  d'Ancone  brula  gaiement  ses  be'quilles  dfes  qu'il  eut  ceint  la 
tiare ;  et  que  Leon  X.,  elu  i^i  trente-huit  ans,  avait  eu  grand  soin  de  ne  guerir 
d'un  mal  mortel  que  le  lendeniain  de  son  couronnement?'— />ore?i?o  Gaivjanelll 
{Clement  XIV.)  a  Carlo  Bertinazzi,  16  Avril  1769. 

The  palace  was  forcibly  seized  in  October  1S71  by  Victor 
Emmanuel  II.  of  Sardinia,  who  died  here  January  9,  1878,  having 
received  in  his  last  hours  a  sublime  message  of  pardon  from  the 
pontiff  he  had  outraged,  and  who  would  have  come  in  person  to 
give  the  deathbed  absolution  if  he  had  not  been  forcibly  prevented 
by  the  Jesuits. 

'  When  the  Italians  had  taken  Home,  a  detachment  of  soldiers,  accompanied 
by  a  smith  and  his  assistants,  marched  up  to  the  gate  of  the  Quirinal.    Not  a 

1  The  form  of  the  announcement  in  the  case  of  Pius  IX.  was  :  '  Nuntio  vobis 
gaudium  magnum  :  Papam  habemus  eminentissinnim  et  reverendissimuni 
dominum  Joannem  Sanctae  P^onianae  Eiclesiae  Cardinalem  Mastai-Kerretti, 
Presbyterum  sub  titulo  Sanctl  Marcellini  et  Petri,  qui  nonien  sibi  adscivit 
Plum  IX.' 


sin  Walks  in  Rome 

soul  was  witliiii,  and  Miey  had  instructions  to  enter  and  take  possession  of  the 
pahice.  In  tlie  presence  of  a  small  and  silent  crowd  of  suUen-lookini;  men  of 
the  people,  the  doors  were  forced.' — F.  Marion  Crawford. 

The  palace  is  now  the  residence  of  King  Unaberto,  and  the 
popular  Queen  Margherita,  his  first  cousin,  whom  he  obtained  a 
dispensation  to  marry,  on  payment  to  tlie  pope  of  5(iO, ()()()  fr.  The 
interior  of  the  building  is  little  worth  seeing.  On  the  landing  of 
the  principal  staircase,  in  a  bad  light,  is  a  very  important  fresco  by 
Mclozzo  da  Forli,  a  rare  master  of  the  Paduan  school.' 

'  On  the  vaulted  ceiling  of  a  chapel  in  the  Church  of  the  S.S.  Apostoli  at  Rome, 
Melozzo  executed  a  work  (1472)  which,  in  those  times,  can  have  admitted  of 
comparison  with  few.  When  the  chapel  was  reVmiit  in  the  eifilitctnth  (  cntury 
some  fragments  were  saved.  That  compreliending  the  Creator  l)elwefM  angels 
was  removed  to  a  staircase  in  the  (Juirinal  I'alace,  while  sintile  figures  of  angels 
were  placeii  in  the  sacristy  of  S.  Peter's.  Tliese  detached  portions  suttice  to  show 
a  beauty  and  fulness  of  form,  and  a  combination  of  earthly  and  spiritual 
grandeur,  comparal)le  in  their  way  to  the  nolilcst  productions  of  Titian,  although 
in  mode  of  execution  rather  recalling  Correggio.  Here,  as  in  the  cupola  frescoes 
of  Correggio  himself,  half  a  century  later,  we  trace  that  constant  effort  at  true 
perspective  of  the  figure,  hardly  in  character,  perhaps,  with  high  ecclesiastical 
art ;  the  drapery,  also,  is  of  a  somewhat  formless  description  ;  but  the  grandeur 
of  the  principal  figure,  the  grace  and  freshness  of  the  little  adoring  cherubs,  and 
the  elevated  beauty  of  the  angels  are  expressed  with  an  easy  naivete,  to  which 
only  the  best  works  of  Mantegna  and  Signorelli  can  compare.' — Kugler. 

Beyond  a  great  hall,  one  hundred  and  ninety  feet  long,  are  a 
number  of  rooms  which  were  fitted  up  by  J^ius  VII.  and  Gregory  XVI. 
for  the  papal  summer  residence.  Several  apartments  have  mosaic 
pavements,  brought  hither  from  pagan  edifices.  In  one  chamber 
Pius  VII.  was  taken  prisoner ;  in  the  next  he  died.  The  room, 
which  is  decorated  with  a  fine  modern  tapestry  of  the  martyrdom 
of  S.  Stephen,  has  a  plaster  frieze,  beinj^  the  original  cast  of  the 
triumph  of  Alexander  the  Great,  modelled  for  Napoleon  bj  Thor- 
waldsen. 

The  Private  Chapd  of  the  Pope.t,  opening  from  the  picture-gallery, 
contains  a  magnificent  picture  of  the  Annunciation  by  Ouido,  and 
frescoes  of  the  life  of  the  Virgin  by  Albani 

The  Pidazzino  has  been  erected  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
Duchess  of  Genoa  and  other  members  of  the  royal  family  during 
their  visits  to  Rome. 

The  Gardens  of  tlie  Quirinal,  which,  under  the  Papal  government, 
were  a  delightful  resort  for  strangers,  are  now  usually  closed  to 
the  public.  They  are  in  the  stiff  style  of  box  hedges  and  clipped 
avenues,  which  seems  to  belong  especially  to  Rome,  and  which  we 
know  to  have  been  popular  here  even  in  imperial  times.  John 
Evelyn  (1G44)  found  them  amongst  '  the  most  magnificent  and 
pleasant  in  Rome.'  Pliny,  in  his  account  of  his  Tusculan  villa, 
describes  his  gardens  decorated  with  '  figures  of  different  animals, 
cut  in  box  ;  evergreens  clipped  into  a  thousand  different  shapes  ; 
sometimes  into  letters  forming  different  names  ;  walls  and  hedges 


1  By  this  same  master  is  the  interesting  fresco  of  Sixtus  IV.  and  his  nephews, 
now  in  the  Vatican  gallery. 


Palazzo  Eospigliosi  317 

of  ciiL  box,  and  trees  twisted  into  a  variety  of  forms.  But  the 
Quirinal  gardens  were  also  worth  visiting,  on  account  of  the  many 
pretty  glimpses  they  alford  of  S.  Peter's  and  other  distant  build- 
ings, and  the  oddity  of  some  of  the  devices — an  organ  played  by 
water,  &c.  The  Casino,  built  by  Fuga,  has  frescoes  by  Orizonte, 
Pompeo,  Batloiii,  and  Pannini. 

(The  Royal  Stables  may  be  visited  with  an  order  from  the  Palazzo 
S.  Felice,  21  Via  della  Dateria,  from  12  to  3  ;  or,  without  an  order, 
on  Thursday  and  Sunday  from  10  to  12.) 

If  we  turn  to  the  left  from  the  front  of  the  palace,  we  reach — on 
the  left— the  entrance  to  the  courtyard  of  the  vast  Palazzo  Rospig- 
liosi,  built  by  Flaminio  Ponzio,  in  1603,  for  Cardinal  Scipio  Borghese, 
on  a  portion  of  the  site  of  the  Baths  of  Constantine.  It  was  in- 
habited by  Cardinal  Bentivoglio,  and  sold  by  him  to  Cardinal 
Mazarin,  who  enlarged  it  from  designs  of  Carlo  Maderno.  His 
father  died  there.  His  niece  brought  it  to  the  Dukes  of  Nevers, 
who  (c.  1668)  sold  it  to  the  Prince  Eospigliosi,  brother  of  the  reign- 
ing Pope,  Clement  X.  From  the  time  of  Mazarin  to  1704  it  was 
inhabited  by  French  ambassadors. 

The  palace  itself  is  not  shown,  but  the  Casino  is  open  on  Wed- 
nesdays and  Saturdays  from  9  to  3.  It  is  situated  at  the  end  of  a 
very  small  but  pretty  garden  planted  with  magnolias,  and  consists 
of  three  chambers.  On  the  roof  of  the  central  room  is  the  famous 
Aurora  of  Guido. 

'Guide's  Aurora  is  the  very  type  of  haste  and  impetus;  for  surely  uo  man 
ever  imagined  such  hurry  aud  tumult,  such  sounding  and  clashing.  Painters 
maintain  that  it  is  lighted  from  two  sides— they  have  my  full  permission  to  light 
theirs  from  thrfe  if  it  will  improve  them,  but  the  difference  lies  elsewhere.'— 
—Mcudelssohus  Letters,  p.  91. 

'  This  is  the  noblest  work  of  Guido.  It  is  embodied  poetry.  The  Hours,  that 
hand  in  hand  encircle  the  car  of  Phoebus,  advance  with  rapid  pace.  The  paler, 
milder  forms  of  those  gentle  sisters  who  rule  over  declining  day,  and  the  glowing 
glance  of  those  who  Ijask  in  the  meridian  blaze,  resplendent  in  the  hues  of 
heaven,  are  of  no  mortal  grace  and  Ijeauty ;  but  they  are  eclipsed  by  Aurora 
herself,  who  sails  on  the  golden  clouds  before  them,  shedtling  "showers  of 
shadowing  roses "  on  the  rejoicing  earth;  her  celestial  presence  diffusing  glad- 
ness, and  light,  and  beauty  around.  Above  the  heads  of  the  heavenly  coursers 
hovers  the  morning  star,  in  the  form  of  a  youthful  cherub,  bearing  his  flaming 
torch.  Nothing  is  more  admirable  in  this  beautiful  composition  than  the  motion 
given  to  the  whole  :  the  smooth  and  rapid  step  of  the  circling  Hours  as  they 
tread  on  the  fleecy  clouds  ;  the  fiery  steeds  ;  the  whirling  wheels  of  the  car  ;  the 
torch  of  Lucifer,  blown  back  by  the  velocity  of  his  advance  ;  and  the  form  of 
Aurora,  borne  through  the  ambient  air,  till  yuu  almost  fear  she  should  flloat  from 
your  sight.' — Baton's  'Rome.' 

'  The  work  of  Guido  is  more  poetic  than  that  of  Guerciuo,  and  luminous,  and 
soft,  and  harmonious.  Cupid,  Aurora,  Phoebus,  form  a  climax  of  beauty,  and 
the  Hours  seem  as  light  as  the  clouds  on  which  they  lisMce.— Forsyth. 

Lauzi  points  out  that  Guido  always  took  the  Venus  de'  Jledici  and  the  Niobe 
as  his  favourite  models,  and  that  there  is  scarcely  one  of  his  large  pictures  in 
which  the  Niobe  or  one  of  her  sons  is  not  introduced,  yet  with  such  dexterity 
that  the  theft  is  scarcely  perceptible. 

The  frescoes  of  the  frieze  are  by  Tempcsta ;  the  landscape  by 
Paul  Brill.     Two  columns,  twelve  feet  high,  are,  with  the  steps  at 


318  Walks  in  Rome 

S.  Prassede,  the  finest  known  specimens  of  the  Greek  marble — 
rosso-antico.  In  the  hall  are  busts,  statues,  and  a  bronze  horse 
found  in  the  ruins  of  the  Baths. 

There  is  a  small  collection  of  pictures,  but  few  of  real  importance. 
In  the  room  on  the  left  is  the  beautiful  iJaniele  di  VoUerra  of 
our  Saviour  bearing  His  cross.  In  the  same  room  are  two  large 
pictures — (81)  David  triumphing  with  the  head  of  Goliath,  Domcni- 
chino ;  and  (04)  Perseus  rescuing  Andromeda,  Guido.  No.  48  is 
a  Holy  Family  by  Luca  SiynarcUi.  In  the  room  on  the  right  are — 
Adam  gathering  fig-leaves  for  Eve,  in  a  Paradise  which  is  crowded 
with  animals  like  a  menagerie,  Domcnichino ;  and  (35)  Samson 
pulling  down  the  pillars  upon  the  Philistines,  Lndovico  Caracci. 
Here  also  is  a  very  remarkable  picture  (32)  of  Juno  chastising 
Venus,  by  Lorenzo  Lotto,  full  of  life,  motion,  and  fury. 

'  Mr.  lliindler  showed  his  appreciation  of  this  fliiely  conceived  and  carefully 
executed  painting,  and  called  it  ■  Tlie  Victory  of  Chastity."  It  might  with  equal 
fitness  be  named  .Tnno  taking  righteous  vengeance  on  Venus.  Juno,  wrapped  in 
a  green  mantle,  with  a  wliite  drapery  about  her  head,  brandishes  aloft  Cupid's 
broken  bow,  and  seems  about  to  pour  forth  the  vials  of  her  wrath  upon  Venus. 
The  goddess  of  love— a  violet  mantle  about  her,  pearls  in  her  fair  hair,  a  brilliant 
star  glowing  on  her  brow,  and  gold  chains  round  her  neck— seeks  to  shield  Cupid 
from  the  fury  of  the  queen  of  heaven.  The  little  god,  with  his  many-coloured 
wings,  cowers  behind  her  with  tearful  face.  The  name  Laurentius  Lottus  is 
still  visible  on  a  "cartellino."  ' — MorellL 

A  fine  bronze  bust  represents  the  Rospigliosi  Pope,  Clement  IX. 

A  second  small  garden  belonging  to  this  palace  is  well  worth 
seeing  in  May,  from  the  wealth  of  camellias,  azaleas,  and  roses 
with  which  it  is  filled.  In  the  palace,  Benvenuto  Cellini's  famous 
salt-cellar  is  preserved — a  shell  resting  on  an  enamel  dragon. 

Opposite  the  Rospigliosi  Palace  is  the  very  handsome  entrance 
to  the  Colonna  Gardens  (which  may  be  seen  on  Wednesdays  by 
ringing  at  a  bell  by  a  door  rather  nearer  the  Quirinal).  The 
gardens  are  connected  with  the  palace  in  the  Piazza  SS.  Apostoli 
by  a  series  of  bridges  across  the  intervening  street.  Here,  on  a 
lofty  terrace  which  has  a  fine  view  towards  the  Capitol,  and  over- 
shadowed b}'  grand  cypresses,  are  the  colossal  remains  long  sup- 
posed to  belong  to  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  (huge  fragments  of 
Corinthian  cornice,  one  of  them  being  the  largest  block  of  marble 
in  Rome,  and  weighing  twenty-seven  tons),  built  by  Aurelian 
(A.D.  270-27")),  but  now  considered  to  be  part  of  the  decorations 
of  the  Baths  of  Constantine.  At  the  other  end  of  the  terrace, 
looking  down  through  two  barns  into  a  kind  of  pit,  we  can  see 
some  remains  of  the  baths — built  A.D.  326 — and  of  the  great  stair- 
case which  led  up  to  them  from  the  valley  below.  The  portico  of 
these  baths  remained  erect  till  the  time  of  Clement  XII.  (1730-40), 
and  was  adorned  with  four  marble  statues,  of  which  two — those 
of  the  two  Constantines — may  now  be  seen  on  the  terrace  of  the 
Capitol,  and  a  third  in  the  Portico  of  the  Lateran. 

Beneath  the  magnificent  cypress-trees  on  the  slope  of  the  hill 
are  several  fine  sarcophagi.  Only  the  stem  is  preserved  of  the 
grand  historical  pine-tree  which  was  planted  on  the  day  on  which 


S.  Silvestro  a  Monte  Cavallo  319 

Cola  di  Rienzi  died,  and  which  was  one  of  the  great  ornaments  of 
the  city  till  1848,  when  it  was  broken  in  a  storm.  These  gardens, 
with  their  temple  ruins,  statues,  cypresses,  birds,  and  flowers,  are 
the  most  beautiful  spot  which  the  recent  changes  have  spared  to 
us  in  Rome.  Incredible,  however,  as  it  may  seem,  the  once  noble 
and  historic  family  of  Colonna  would  have  sold  the  ujiper  part  of 
them  for  building  land,  if  the  Government  had  not  interfered,  on 
account  of  the  two  pagan  ruins  which  they  contain. 

Just  beyond  the  end  of  the  garden  is  the  Church  of  S.  Silvestro 
a  Monte  Cavallo — belonging  to  the  Missionaries  of  S.  Vincent  de 
Paul — in  which  the  cardinals  used  to  meet  before  going  in  pro- 
cession to  the  conclave.  It  contains  a  few  rather  good  pictures. 
The  cupola  of  the  second  chapel  has  frescoes  by  Uomenichino,  of 
David  dancing  before  the  Ark,  the  Queen  of  Sheba  and  Solomon, 
Judith  with  the  head  of  Holofernes,  and  Esther  fainting  before 
Ahasuerus.  These  are  considered  by  Lanzi  as  some  of  the  finest 
frescoes  of  the  master.  In  the  left  transept  is  a  chapel  containing 
a  picture  of  the  Assumption,  painted  on  slate,  considered  the 
masterpiece  of  Scipione  Oaetani.  The  last  chapel  but  one  on  the 
left  has  a  ceiling  by  Cav.  d'Arpino,  and  frescoes  on  the  wall  by 
Polidoro  da  Caravaggio.  The  picture  over  the  altar,  representing 
S.  Dominic  and  S.  Catherine  of  Siena,  is  by  Mariotto  Alhertindli. 
Cardinal  Bentivoglio — who  wrote  the  history  of  the  wars  in 
Flanders,  and  lived  in  the  Rospigliosi  Palace — is  buried  here,  with 
Cardinal  Gian  Giacopo  Pancirelli,  the  one  honest  minister  of  the 
reign  of  Alexander  VI.  The  adjoining  convent,  beneath  which 
remains  of  a  shrine  of  Semo  Sancus  were  discovered  in  1881,'  is 
now  the  headquarters  of  the  Royal  Engineers. 

We  now  reach  the  height  of  Magnanopoli,  from  which  the  isthmus 
which  joined  the  Quirinal  to  the  Capitoline  was  cut  away  by  Trajan. 
Here,  beneath  the  wall  of  the  Villa  Aldobrandini,  radiant  with 
flowers  in  spring,  is  a  crossways,  in  the  centre  of  which  a  fragment 
of  the  ancient  wall  of  the  time  of  the  kings  is  preserved.  Another 
fragment,  in  the  neighbouring  Palazzo  Antonelli,  retains  a  massive 
stone  archway,  supposed  to  be  the  Porta  Fontinalis.  The  founda- 
tions under  this  arch  are  important  as  showing  the  use  of  concrete 
as  early  as  the  time  of  the  kings.  The  palace  was  the  favourite 
private  residence  of  the  great  cardinal  of  brigand  ancestry,  who 
was  long  the  prime  minister  of  Pius  IX. 

'  Antonelli  was  the  best-hated  man  of  his  day,  not  only  in  Europe  and  Italy, 
but  by  a  large  proportion  of  Churchmen.' — F.  Marion  Crmrford. 

Hence  the  ugly  modern  Via  Nazionale  leads  east  to  S.  Maria 
degli  Angeli,  and  west,  through  what  was  the  garden  of  Cardinal 
Antonelli,  to  the  Piazza  Colonna.  The  turn  given  to  the  hill  near 
this,  and  the  effect  of  the  lofty  Aldobrandini  Garden  amongst  the 


1  The  statue  of  the  god  and  its  inscribed  pedestal  are  now  in  the  Galleria  dei 
Candelabri  at  the  Vatican. 


320  Walks  in  Rome 

houses,  is  one  of  the  best  things  done  in  Rome  since  the  Sardinian 
rule.  A  fine  house  of  the  first  century  .A.D.,  with  exquisitely 
painted  walls,  was  discovered  near  tiiis  in  June  1884,  but  its  de- 
struction was  at  once  oiderc'd. 

Opposite  is  the  Church  of  S.  Caterina  di  Siena,  possessing  some 
frescoes  attributed,  on  doubtful  grounds,  to  the  rare  master  Timoteo 
della  Vifc.  Adjoining  is  a  large  convent,  inclosed  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  which  is  the  tall  brick  mediaeval  tower,  sometimes  called 
the  Tower  of  Nero,  but  generally  known  as  the  Torre  del  Milizie,  i.e. 
of  the  Roman  Militia.  It  was  erected  by  the  sons  of  Peter  Alexius, 
a  baron  attached  to  the  party  of  Senator  Pandolfo  de  Suburra.  The 
lower  part  is  said  to  have  been  built  in  1210,  the  upper  in  1294 
and  13;J0. 

'  People  pass  lluough  two  regular  courses  of  study  at  Rome — the  Hi st  in  learn- 
iiijr,  ai\ci  the  second  in  uulearnins;. 

'  "Tliis  is  the  Tower  of  Nero,  from  which  he  saw  the  city  in  flames — and  this 
is  the  Temple  of  Concord— and  this  is  the  Temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux— and  this 
is  the  Temple  of  Vesta— and  these  are  the  Baths  of  Paulus  Aemilius,"  and  so  on, 
says  your  lacquey. 

'  "This  is  not  the  Tower  of  Nero — nor  that  the  Temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux — 
nor  the  other  the  Temple  of  Concord— nor  are  any  of  these  things  what  they  are 
called,"  says  your  antiquary.' — Eaton's  'Home.'  • 

The  Convent  of  S.  Caterina  was  built  by  the  celebrated  Vittoria 
Colonna,  wlio  requested  the  advice  of  Michelangelo  on  the  subject, 
and  was  told  she  had  better  make  the  ancient  'Torre'  into  a  belfry. 
A  very  curious  account  of  the  interview  in  which  this  subject  was 
discussed,  and  which  took  place  in  the  Church  of  S.  Silvestro  a 
Monte  Cavallo,  is  left  us  in  the  memoirs  of  Francesco  d'Olanda,  a 
Portuguese  painter,  who  was  himself  present  at  the  conversation. 

Near  this  point  are  two  other  fine  mediaeval  towers.  One,  now 
engrafted  in  the  Via  Nazionale,  on  the  left  of  the  descent  to  the 
Piazza  Venezia,  is  that  of  the  Colonna,  now  called  Tor  di  Babele, 
and  is  ornamented  with  three  beautiful  fragments  of  sculjjtured 
frieze,  one  of  them  bearing  the  device  of  the  Colonna,  a  crowned 
column  rising  from  a  wreath.  The  other  tower,  immediately  facing 
us,  is  called  Torre  del  Grillo,  from  the  ancient  family  of  that 
name. 

Opposite  S.  Caterina  is  the  handsome  Church  of  SS.  Domenico  e 
Sisto,  approached  by  a  good  double  twisted  staircase,  the  eft'ect  of 
which  was  greatly  injured  by  the  changes  of  1870-77.  Over  the 
second  altar  on  the  left  is  a  picture  of  the  marriage  of  S.  Catherine 
by  Allcf/rani,  and,  on  the  anniversary  of  her  (visionary)  marriage 
(July  10),  the  dried  hand  of  the  saint  is  exhibited  here,  to  the  un- 
speakable comfort  of  the  faithful. 

In  opening  or  building  the  Via  Nazionale  between  this  point  and 
the  Baths  of  Diocletian  many  fragments  and  foundations  of  the 
palaces  of  illustrious  Romans  were  discovered  (and  destroyed  or 
reburied)  which  once  lined  the  Vicus  Longus.  These  included, 
on  the  right,  the  magnificent  houses  of  Lucius  Naeviiis  Clemens, 
Publia  Materna,  C.  Articuleius  Germanianus,  Tiberius  JuHus  Frugi, 


S.  Agata  dei  Goti  321 

C.  Julius  Avitus,  P.  Numicius  Caesianus,  and  Scipio  Orfitus  ;  faced, 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  by  the  hou^es  of  the  Claudii 
Claiidiani,  of  M.  Postumius  Festus,  T.  Avidius  Quietus,  the  Lampadii, 
T.  Aelius  Antonius  Severus,  &c.' 

We  turn  by  SS.  Domenico  e  Sisto  into  the  Via  Magnanopoli — 
formerly  Bagnunopoli,  a  corruption  of  Balnea  Pauli  —  Baths  of 
Emilius  Paulus,  a  name  given  to  the  ruins  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Forum  of  Trajan.  The  Mirabiiia  speaks  of  the  corruption  of  the 
name  'Vado  ad  Napulim,'  supposed  in  the  Middle  Ages  to  have 
been  the  exclamation  of  the  wizard  Virgil,  who,  on  this  spot,  being 
taken  by  the  Romans,  escaped  invisibly,  and  went  to  Naples.  On 
the  left  we  pass  the  Palazzo  Aldobrandini,  with  a  bright,  pleasant- 
looking  court  and  handsome  fountain.  The  present  Prince  Aldo- 
brandini is  brother  of  the  late  Prince  Borghese.  The  fortunes  of 
this  house  were  founded  by  Clement  VIII.,  who  presented  his 
nephew,  Cardinal  Aldobrandini,  with  a  million  scudi  in  ready 
money.  Of  this  family  was  S.  Pietro  Aldobrandini,  generally 
known  as  S.  Pietro  Igneo,  who  was  canonised  because,  in  10G7,  he 
walked  unhurt,  crucifix  in  hand,  through  a  burning  fiery  furnace 
ten  feet  long  before  the  church  door  of  Settimo,  near  Florence,  to 
prove  an  accusation  of  simony  which  he  had  brought  against  Pietro 
di  Pavia,  bishop  of  that  city. 

In  the  Via  di  Mazzarini,  in  the  hollow  between  the  Quirinal  and 
Viminal,  is  the  Convent  of  S.  Agata  in  Suburra,  through  the  court- 
yard of  which  we  enter  the  Church  of  S.  Agata  dei  Goti.  A  tradi- 
tion declares  that  this  (like  S.  Sabba  nn  the  A\entine)  is  on  the  site 
of  a  house  of  S.  Silvia,  mother  of  S.  Gregory  the  Great,  who  conse- 
crated the  church  after  it  had  been  plundered  by  the  Goths,  and 
dedicated  it  to  S.  Agata.  It  was  rebuilt  by  Ricimer,  the  king- 
maker, who  was  buried  here  in  A.D.  472.  But  twelve  ancient 
granite  columns  and  a  handsome  opus-alexandrinum  pavement  are 
the  only  remaining  signs  of  antiquity.  The  church  now  belongs  to 
the  Irish  Seminary.  In  the  left  aisle  is  the  monument  of  Daniel 
O'Connell,  with  bas-reliefs  by  Benzoni,  inscribed  : — 

'This  monument  contains  the  heart  of  O'Connell,  who  dying  at  Genoa  on  his 
way  to  the  Eternal  City,  bequeathed  his  soul  to  God,  his  body  to  Ireland,  and  his 
heart  to  Rome.  He  is  represented  at  the  bar  of  the  British  House  of  Commons 
in  MDCCCX.XIIL,  when  he  refused  to  take  the  anti-Catholic  declaration,  in  these 
remarkable  words  ;  "  I  at  once  reject  this  declaration  ;  part  of  it  I  believe  to  be 
untrue,  and  the  rest  I  know  to  be  false."  He  was  horn  vi.  Aug.,  MDCCLXXYI., 
and  died  xv.  May,  MDCCCXLVIII.  Erected  by  Charles  Bianconi,  the  faithful 
friend  of  the  immortal  Liberator,  and  of  Ireland,  the  land  of  his  adoption.' 

At  the  end  of  the  left  aisle  is  a  chapel,  which  Cardinal  Antonelli 
(who  had  his  palace  near  this)  decorated,  1863,  with  frescoes  and 
arabesques  as  a  burial-place  for  his  family.  In  the  opposite  chapel 
is  a  gilt  figure  of  S.  Agata  carrying  her  breasts — showing  the  manner 
in  which  she  suffered. 


1  See  Rudolfo  Lanciani  in  the  Athenaeum  of  Slarch  8,  1884. 
VOL.  I.  X 


322  Walks  in  Rome 

'  Asialha  was  a  maiden  of  t'ataiiia.  in  Sicily,  whither  Dccius  the  emperor  sent 
Quiiitianiis  as  governor.  He,  intlanifd  liy  the  heauty  of  Agatlia,  tempted  her  witli 
rich  gifts  and  iimrnisL's,  l>ut  slic  npulst'd  liini  with  distlain.  Tlien  (^uintianns 
ordered  lier  to  be  hound  and  l)tatcn  witli  lods.  anil  sent  two  of  his  slaves  to  tear 
her  bosom  with  iron  shears,  and,  as  her  blood  Howed  forth,  she  said  to  him,  "O 
thou  cruel  tyrant '  art  thou  not  ashamed  to  tear  me  thus?— hast  thou  not  thyself 
been  fed  at  thy  mother's  breasts  V"  Thus  only  did  she  murmur.  And  in  the 
night  a  venerable  man  came  to  her,  bearing  a  vase  of  ointment,  and  before  him 
walked  a  youth  bearing  a  torch.  It  was  the  holy  apostle  Peter,  and  the  youth 
was  an  angel ;  but  Agatha  knew  it  not,  though  such  a  glorious  light  filled  the 
prison,  that  the  guards  lied  in  terror.  .  .  .  Then  S.  I'eter  made  himself  known  and 
ministered  to  her,  restoring  with  heavenly  balm  her  wounded  breasts. 

'Quintianus,  infuriated,  demanded  who  had  healed  her.  She  replied,  "  He 
whom  1  confess  and  adore  with  heart  and  lips.  He  hath  sent  His  apostle,  who 
hath  healed  me."  Then  Quintianus  caused  her  to  be  thrown  bo\ind  upon  a  great 
lire,  but  instantly  an  earthtiuake  arose,  and  the  people  in  terror  cried,  "This 
visitation  is  sent  l)ecause  of  the  sufferings  of  the  maiden  Agatlia."  So  hecatised 
her  to  be  taken  from  tlie  fire,  and  carried  back  to  prison,  where  she  prayed  aloud 
that,  having  now  proved  her  faith,  she  might  be  freed  from  pain  and  see  the 
glory  of  God  ;  and  her  prayer  'vas  answered  and  her  spirit  instantly  departed 
into  eternal  glory,  Feb.  5th,  A.D.  251.' — Frum  the  •  Legcnde  dclle  SS.  Vergini.' 

Agata  (patroness  of  Catania)  is  one  of  the  saints  most  reverenced 
by  the  Roman  people.  On  the  5th  of  February  her  vespers  are  sung 
here,  and  contain  the  antiphons  : — 

'  Who  art  thou  that  art  come  to  heal  my  wounds?— I  am  an  apostle  of  Christ; 
doubt  not  concerning  me.  my  daughter. 

'  Medicine  for  the  body  have  I  never  used  ;  but  I  have  the  Lord  .Jesus  Christ, 
who  with  His  word  alone  restoreth  all  things. 

'  I  render  thanks  to  Thee,  O  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  that  Thou  hast  been  mind- 
ful of  me,  and  hast  sent  Thine  apostle  to  heal  my  wounds. 

'  I  bless  thee,  O  Father  of  my  Lord  .lesus  Christ,  because  through  Thine  apostle 
Thou  hast  restored  my  breasts  to  me. 

'  Him  who  hath  vouchsafed  to  heal  me  of  every  wound,  and  to  restore  to  nie 
my  breasts.  Him  do  I  invoke,  even  the  living  God. 

'  Blessed  Agatha,  standing  in  her  prison,  stretched  forth  her  hands  and  prayed 
unto  the  Lord,  saying,  "O  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  my  good  Master,  I  thank  Thee  be- 
cause Thou  hast  given  me  strength  to  overcome  the  tortures  of  the  executioners  ; 
and  now.  Lord,  speak  the  word,  that  I  may  depart  hence  to  Thy  glory  which 
fadeth  not  away." ' 

The  tomb  of  John  Lascaris  (a  refugee  from  Constantinople  when 
taken  by  the  Turks)  has — in  Greek — the  inscription  : — 

'  Lascaris  lies  here  in  a  foreign  grave ;  but,  stranger,  that  does  not  disturb 
him,  rather  does  he  rejoice  ;  yet  he  is  not  without  sorrow,  as  a  Grecian,  that  his 
fatherland  will  not  bestow  upon  him  the  freedom  of  a  grave.' 

Passing  the  great  Convent  of  S.  Bernardino  Senensis,  we  reach 
the  Via  (lei  Serpenti,  interesting  as  occupying  the  supposed  site  of 
the  Vallis  QuirinalLs,  where  Julius  Proculus,  returning  from  Alba 
Longa,  encountered  the  Ghost  of  Romulus. 

'  Sed  Proculus  Longa  veniebat  Julius  Alba  ; 
Liuiaque  fulgebat ;  nee  facis  usus  erat : 
Cum  subito  motu  nubes  crepuere  sinistrae  : 

Ketulit  illegradus  ;  horrueruntfiue  comae. 
Pulcher,  et  humano  major,  trabeaque  decorus, 
Romulus  in  media  visus  adesse  via.' 

—Ovid,  Fast.  ii.  498. 


Church  of  S.  Maria  in  Monti  323 

Turning  to  the  right  down  the  Via  dei  Serpenti,  we  reach  the 
Piazza  S.  Maria  in  Monti,  containing  a  fountain,  and  a  church 
dedicated  to  6'<b'.  Scryius  and  Bacchus,  two  martyrs  who  sufiPered 
under  Maximian  at  Rasapha  in  Syria. 

One  side  of  this  piazza  is  occupied  by  the  Church  of  S.  Maria  in 
Monti,  in  which  is  deposited  a  figure  of  the  beggar  Labre  (canonised 
by  Leo  XIII.,  December  8th,  1881),  dressed  in  the  gown  of  a  men- 
dicant-pilgrim, which  he  wore  when  living.  Over  the  altar  is  a 
picture  of  him  in  the  Coliseum  distributing  to  his  fellow-beggars 
the  alms  which  he  had  obtained.  His  festa  is  observed  here  on 
April  IGth.  (At  No.  3  Via  dei  Serpenti,  one  may  visit  the  chamber 
iu  which  Labre  died  ;  and  in  the  Via  dei  Crociferi,  near  the  fountain 
of  Trevi,  a  chapel  containing  many  of  his  relics — the  bed  on  which 
he  died,  the  crucifix  which  he  wore  in  his  bosom,  &c.). 

'  Benoit  Joseph  Labre  iiaquit  en  17S4  tians  le  diocese  de  Boulogne  (France)  de 
parents  Chretiens  et  jouissant  dune  niodeste  aisance.  D'une  pi6te  vive  et  tendre, 
il  vouhit  d'abord  se  faire  religieux  ;  uiais  sa  sant6  ne  put  resister,  ni  aux  regies 
des  Cliartreux.  ni  a  celles  des  Trappistes,  chez  lesquels  il  entra  successivenient. 
Ilfut  alorx  solliciU  intirieurement,  est-il  dit  dans  la  notice  sur  sa  vie,  de  inener 
un^  vie  de  penitence  et  de  charite  au  milieu  du  siecle.  Pendant  sept  annees,  il 
parcourut,  en  pelerin-mendiant,  les  sanctuaires  de  la  Vierge  les  plus  veneres  de 
toute  I'Europe  ;  on  a  calcule  qu'il  fit,  a  pied,  plus  de  cinq  mille  lieues  pendant 
ces  sept  annees. 

'  En  1777  il  revint  en  Italie,  pour  ne  plus  en  sortir.  II  habitaii  Konie,  faisant 
seulement  une  fois  chaque  annee  le  pfelerinage  de  Lorette.  II  passait  une  grande 
partie  de  ses  journeesdans  les  6glises,  niendiait,  et  faisait  desoeuvres  de  charite. 
II  couchait  quelquefois  sous  le  portique  des  eglises,  et  le  plus  souvent  au  Colysee 
derriere  la  petite  chapelle  de  la  cinquienie  station  du  cliemin  de  la  croix.  L'eglise 
qu'il  frequentait  le  plus  etait  celle  de  S.  Marie  des  Monts  ;  le  16  avril  1783,  apres 
y  avoir  prie  fort  longtemps,  en  sortant,  il  tomba,  conime  evanoui,  sur  les  marches 
du  peristyle  de  l'eglise.  On  le  transporta  dans  une  niaison  voisine,  oii  il  mourut 
le  soir.' — '  Cne  Annee  a  Rome.' 

S.  Alfonso  Liguori  lived  in  the  Convent  of  S.  Maria  in  Monti  in 
the  time  of  Clement  XIII.  Almost  opposite  this  church,  till  1885, 
a  narrow  alley,  which  appeared  to  be  a  cul-de-sac  ending  in  a  picture 
of  the  Crucifixion,  was  in  reality  the  approach  to  the  carefully  con- 
cealed Convent  of  the  Farnesiane  Nuns,  generally  known  as  the  Sepolte 
Vive.  No  more  curious  convent  has  been  recently  destroyed.  The 
only  means  of  communicating  with  the  nuns  was  by  rapping  on  a 
barrel  which  projected  from  a  wall  on  a  platform  above  the  roofs  of 
the  houses — when  a  muffled  voice  was  heard  from  the  interior  ;  and 
if  the  references  of  the  visitor  were  satisfactory,  the  barrel  turned 
round,  and  eventually  disclosed  a  key  by  which  the  initiated  could 
admit  themselves  to  a  small  chamber  in  the  interior  of  the  convent. 
Over  the  door  was  an  inscription,  bidding  those  who  entered  that 
chamber  to  leave  all  worldly  thoughts  behind  them.  Round  the 
walls  were  inscribed  :  'Qui  non  diligit,  manet  in  morte. '  'Militia 
est  vita  hominis  super  terram.'  'Alter  alterius  onera  portate;' 
and,  on  the  other  side  opposite  the  door — 

'  Vi  esorto  a  riniirar 

La  vita  del  mo!ido 
Nella  guisa  che  la  niira 
Un  moribondo.' 


324  Walks  in  Rome 

In  one  of  the  walls  was  an  opening:-  with  a  double  grille,  beyond 
which  was  a  metal  plate,  pierced  witli  holes  like  the  rose  of  a 
watering-pot.  It  was  beyond  this  grille,  and  behind  this  plate,  that 
the  abbess  of  the  Sepolte  Vive  received  her  visitors,  but  she  was  even 
then  veiled  from  head  to  foot  in  heavy  folds  of  thick  serge.  Gregory 
XVI.,  who,  of  course,  could  penetrate  within  the  convent,  and  who 
wished  to  trj'  her,  said,  '  Sorella  mia,  levate  il  velo.'  '  No,  mio 
padre,'  she  replied  ;  'c  vietato  dalla  nostra  regola.' 

The  nuns  of  the  Sepolte  Vive  are  never  seen  again  after  they 
once  assume  the  black  veil,  though  they  are  allowed  double  the 
ordinary  noviciate.  They  never  hear  anything  of  the  outer  world, 
even  of  the  deaths  of  their  nearest  relations.  Daily  they  dig  their 
own  graves  and  lie  down  in  them,  and  their  remaining  hours  are 
occupied  in  perpetual  and  monotonous  adoration  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament. 

Returning  as  far  as  the  Via  Pane  e  Perna  (a  continuation  of  the 
Via  Magnanopoli),  we  ascend  the  slope  of  the  Viminal  Hill,  now  with 
difficulty  to  be  distinguished  from  the  Quirinal.  It  derives  its  name 
from  vimina,  osiers,  and  was  once  probably  covered  with  woods, 
since  a  temple  of  Sylvanus  or  Pan  was  one  of  several  which  adorned 
its  principal  street — the  Vicus  Longus — the  site  of  which  is  now 
marked  by  the  street  called  Via  S.  Vitale.  This  end  of  the  hill  is 
crowned  by  the  Church  of  S.  Lorenzo  Pane  e  Perna,  built  on  the  site 
of  the  martyrdom  of  the  deacon  S.  Laurence,  who  suffered  under 
Claudius  II.,  in  A.D.  264,  for  refusing  to  give  up  the  goods  of  the 
Church.  Over  the  altar  is  a  huge  fresco,  representing  the  saint 
extended  upon  a  red-hot  gridiron,  and  below — entered  from  the 
exterior  of  the  church — a  crypt  is  shown  as  the  scene  of  his  cruel 
sufferings.  1 

'Blessed  Laureiitius  as  he  lay  stretched  and  binning  on  the  gridiron,  said  to 
the  impious  tyrant,  "The  meat  is  done,  make  haste  hither  and  eat.  As  for  the 
treasures  of  the  Church  which  you  seek,  the  hands  of  the  poor  have  carried  them 
to  a  heavenly  treasury."  ' — Antiphone  of  S.  Laurence. 

It  was  outside  this  convent  that,  towards  the  close  of  her  life, 
S.  Bridget  of  Sweden  used  to  sit  begging  for  the  poor  and  kissing 
the  hands  of  those  who  gave  her  alms.  Her  funeral  took  place  in 
this  church,  July  1373  ;  but,  after  resting  here  for  a  year,  her  body 
was  removed  by  her  son  to  the  monastery  of  Wastein  in  Sweden. 

Under  the  second  altar  on  the  right  are  shown  the  relics  of  S. 
Crispin  and  S.  Crispinian,  'two  holy  brothers,  who  departed  from 
Rome  with  S.  Denis  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  France,  where,  after 
the  example  of  S.  Paul,  they  laboured  with  their  hands,  being  by 
trade  shoemakers.  And  these  good  saints  made  food  for  the  poor 
without  fee  or  reward  (for  which  the  angels  supplied  them  with 
leather),  until,  denounced  as  Christians,  they  suffered  martyrdom 
at  Soissons,  being,   after  many  tortures,  beheaded   by  the  sword 

1  The  body  of  this  saint  is  said  to  repose  at  S.  Lorenzo  f  uori  le  Mura  ;  his  head 
is  at  the  Quirinal ;  at  S.  Lorenzo  in  Lucina  his  gridiron  and  chains  are  shown. 


S.   Lorenzo  Pane  e  Perna  325 

(A.D.  300).'^     The  festival  of  S.  Crispin  and  S.  Crispinian  is  held 
on  October  25th,  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Agincourt. 

'And  Crispin  Crispian  sliall  ne'er  go  by, 
From  tliis  day  to  tlic  ending;  of  the  world, 
But  we  in  it  .sluill  lie  rLinenil)ered.' 

— Shakespeare,  '  Henry  V.' 

Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  the  statues  of  Posidippus  and 
Menander,  now  in  the  gallery  of  statues  at  the  Vatican,  were  kissed 
and  worshipped  in  this  church  under  the  impression  that  they  re- 
presented saints  (see  Chap.  XV.).  They  were  found  on  this  site, 
which  was  once  occupied  by  the  Baths  of  Olympias,  daughter-in-law 
of  Constantine. 

The  strange  name  of  the  church,  Pane  e  Perna,  is  generally 
supposed  to  have  had  its  origin  in  a  dole  of  bread  and  ham  once 
given  at  the  door  of  the  adjacent  convent,  but  more  probably  is 
derived  from  the  Prefect  PerpernaQuadratus,  commemorated  in  an 
inscription  in  the  convent  garden,  in  which  there  is  a  mediaeval 
house  of  c.  1200.     The  campanile  is  of  1450. 

The  small  neighbouring  Church  of  S.  Lorenzo  in  Fonte  covers  the 
site  of  the  prison  of  S.  Laurence,  and  a  fountain  is  shown  there  as 
that  in  which  he  baptized  Vicus  P;itricius  and  his  daughter  Lucilla, 
whom  he  miraculously  raised  from  the  dead. 

Descending  the  hill  below  the  church — in  the  valley  between  the 
Esquiline  and  Viminal — we  reach  at  the  corner  of  the  street  a  spot 
of  pre-eminent  historical  interest,  as  that  where  Servius  Tullius  was 
killed,  and  where  Tullia  (B.C.  535)  drove  in  her  chariot  over  the  dead 
body  of  her  father.  The  Vicus  Urbius  by  which  the  old  king  had 
reached  the  spot  is  now  represented  by  the  Via  Urbana  ;  the  Vicus 
Cyprius,  by  which  he  was  about  to  ascend  to  the  palace  on  the  hill 
Cispius,  by  the  Via  di  S.  Maria  Maggiore. 

'  Servius-Tullius,  apr^s  avoir  pris  le  chemin  racoourci  qui  partait  du  pied  de  la 
Velia  et  allait  du  cote  de  Carines.  atteignit  le  Vicus-Cyprius  (Via  Urbana). 

'  Parvenu  a  I'extremite  du  Vicus  Cyprius,  le  roi  fut  atteint  et  assassine  par  les 
gens  de  Tarquin  aupres  d'un  temple  de  Diane. 

'  Cast  arrives  en  cet  endroit,  an  moment  de  tourner  a  droite  et  de  gagner,  en 
remontant  le  Vicus-Virbius,  le  Cispius,  on  habitait  son  pfere,  que  les  chevau.x 
s'arret^rent ;  que  Tullie,  poussee  par  I'impatience  fi^vreuse  de  I'ambition,  et 
n'ayant  plus  que  quelques  pas  a  faire  pour  arriver  au  terme,  avertie  par  le  cocher 
que  le  cadavre  de  son  p6re  etalt  Iti  gisant,  s'^cria  :  "  Eh  bien,  pousse  le  char  en 
avant ! " 

'  Le  meurtre  s'est  accompli  au  pied  du  Viminal,  ii  I'extrfimit^  du  Vicus-Cyprius, 
\h  oil  fut  depuis  le  Vieus-Sceleratus,  la  rue  Funeste. 

'  Le  lieu  ou  la  tradition  plagait  cette  tragique  aventure  ne  pent  etre  sur 
I'Esquilin,  mais  n6cessairenient  au  pied  de  cette  colline  et  du  Viminal,  puisque, 
parvenu  a  I'extremite  du  Vicus-Cyprius,  le  cocher  allait  tourner  a  droite  et 
remonterpourgravir  I'Esquilin.  II  ne  faut  done  pas  chercher,  comme  Nibby,  la 
rue  Scelerate  sur  une  des  pentes,  ou,  comnie  Caniiia  et  M.  Dyer,  sur  le  sommet 
de  I'Esquilin,  d'ou  Ton  ne  pouvait  nionter  sur  I'Esquilin. 

'  Tullie  n'allait  pas  sur  I'Oppius  (San-Pietro  in  Vincoli),  dans  la  demeure  de  son 
mari,  mais  sur  le  Cispius,  dans  la  demeiu-e  de  son  pfere  C'lStait  de  la  demeure 
royale  qu'elle  allait  prendre  possession  pour  le  nouveau  roi. 


1  Jameson's  'Sacred  and  Legendary  Art.' 


326  Walks  in  Rome 

'  Je  n'ouWierai  jamais  le  soir  oi'i,  aprts  avoir  longtemps  cherch^  le  lieu  qui  vit 
la  inort  de  Servius  et  le  crime  de  TiiUie,  tout  a  couj)  je  dOcouvris  clairemeiit  que 
j'y  etais  arrive,  et  m'arrutant  pleiii  d'horreur,  conime  le  cocher  de  la  parricide, 
plongeant  dans  I'ombre  un  regard  (jui,  malgre  moi,  y  cherchait  le  cadavre  du 
vieux  roi,  je  me  dis  :  "C'6tait  la  1"  ' — Ampere,  IJut.  Horn.  ii.  153. 

Turning  to  the  left,  at  the  foot  of  the  Esquiline,  we  find  the 
interesting  Church  of  S.  Pudentiana — Ecclesia  Pudentiana'  —  sup- 
posed to  be  the  most  ancient  of  all  the  Roman  churclies  ('  omnium 
ecclesiarum  urbis  vetustissima').  Cardinal  Wiseman,  who  took  his 
title  from  this  church,  considered  it  was  the  principal  place  of 
worship  in  Rome  after  apostolic  times,  being  founded  on  the  site  of 
the  house  where  S.  Paul  lodged,  A.D.  41  to  50,  with  the  senator 
Pudens,  whose  family  were  his  first  converts,  and  who  is  said  to 
have  himself  suffered  martyrdom  under  Nero.  On  this  ancient 
place  of  worship  an  oratory  was  engrafted  by  Pius  I.  [c.  A.D.  145), 
in  memory  of  the  younger  daughter  of  Pudens,  Pudentiana,  perhaps 
at  the  request  of  her  sister  Prassede,  who  is  believed  to  have  sur- 
vivecl  till  that  time.  In  very  early  times  two  small  churches 
existed  here,  known  as  'Titulus  Pudentis  '  and  '  Titulus  Pastoris,' 
the  latter  in  memory  of  the  brother  of  Pius  I. 

The  church,  which  has  been  successively  altered  by  Adrian  I.  in 
the  eighth  century,  by  Gregory  VII.,  and  by  Innocent  II.,  was 
finally  modernised  by  Cardinal  Caetani  in  1597.  Little  remains  of 
ancient  external  work  except  the  graceful  brick  campanile  (c.  1130), 
with  triple  arcades  of  open  arches  on  every  side,  separated  by 
bands  of  terra-cotta  moulding  ;  and  the  door  adorned  with  low 
reliefs  of  the  Lamb  bearing  a  cross,  and  of  S.  Prassede  and  S. 
Pudentiana,  with  the  vases  in  wliich  they  collected  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs,  and  two  other  figures,  probably  S.  Pudens  and  S.  Pastor. 

The  chapel  on  the  left  of  the  tribune,  which  is  regarded  as  the 
'  Titulus  Pudentis,'  has  an  old  mosaic  pavement,  said  to  have 
belonged  to  the  house  of  Pudens.  Here  is  a  bas-relief  by  Giacomo 
della  Porta,  representing  our  Saviour  delivering  the  keys  to  S. 
Peter  ;  and  here  is  preserved  part  of  the  altar  at  which  S.  Peter  is 
said  to  liave  celebrated  mass  (the  rest  is  at  the  Lateran),  and  which 
was  used  by  all  the  early  popes  till  the  time  of  Sylvester.  Among 
early  christian  inscriptions  let  into  the  walls,  is  one  to  a  Cornelia, 
of  the  family  of  the  Pudentiani,  with  a  rude  portrait. 

Opening  from  the  left  aisle  is  the  chapel  of  the  Caetani  family, 
with  tombs  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Over  the  altar  is  a  bas- 
relief  of  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  by  Paolo  Ol.ivieri.  On  each 
side  are  fine  columns  of  Lumachella  marble.  Over  the  entrance 
from  the  nave  are  ancient  mosaics — of  the  Evangelists  and  of  S. 
Pudentiana  collecting  the  blood  of  the  martyr.-.  Beneath  is  a 
gloomy  and  neglected  vault,  in  which  all  the  sarcophagi  and  coffins 
of  the  dead  Caetani  are  shown  by  torchlight. 


1  The  Church  of  Pudens,  and  the  early  christian  buildings  of  Rome  were  never 
named  from  a  saint,  but  from  their  founders,  or  the  owners  of  the  site  on  which 
they  were  liuilt. 


J 


S.  Pudentiana  327 

In  tlie  tribune  are  magnificent  mosaics,  ascribed  to  the  fourth 
century,  and  considered  by  Poussin  and  afterwards  by  De  Rossi  ^ 
as  the  best  of  all  ancient  christian  mosaics,  as  they  are  the  oldest, 
dating  from  A.D.  398.  They  were  mutilated  by  Cardinal  Enrico 
CatJtani  in  1588. 

'  In  conception  and  treatment  this  work  is  indeed  classic :  seated  on  a  rich 
throne  in  the  centre  is  the  Saviour  with  one  arm  extended,  and  in  the  otlier 
holding  a  book  open  at  the  words,  Consernntor  Ecdesiae  Pinli'iitianKc ;  hiterahy 
stand  f^S.  Praxedis  and  Pudentiana  with  leafy  crowns  in  tlu'ir  haiiils  ;  and  at  a 
lower  level,  but  more  in  front,  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  with  ei^ht  other  male  figures, 
all  in  the  amply-flowing  costume  of  ancient  Romans  ;  while  in  the  background 
are  seen,  beyond  a  portico  with  arcades,  various  stately  luiildings,  one  a  rotunda, 
another  a  parallelogram  with  a  gable-headed  fi-ont,  recognisable  as  a  baptistery 
and  basilica,  here,  we  may  believe,  in  authentic  copy  from  the  earliest  types  of 
the  period  of  the  first  christian  emperors.  Above  the  group  and  hovering  in  the 
air,  a  large  cross,  studded  with  gems,  surmounts  the  head  of  our  Saviour,  be- 
tween the  four  symbols  of  the  Evangelists,  of  which  one  has  been  entirely,  and 
another  in  the  greater  part,  sacrificed  to  some  wretched  accessories  in  wood- 
work actually  allowed  to  conceal  portions  of  tliis  most  interesting  mosaic.  As  to 
expression,  a  severe  solemnity  is  that  prevailing,  especially  in  the  principal  head, 
which  alone  is  crowned  with  the  nimbus — one  aim  mg  other  proofs,  if  butnegative, 
of  its  high  antiquity.' — Hemans'  'Ancient  Christian  Art.' 

Besides  S.  Pudentiana  and  S.  Pudens,  S.  Novatus  and  S.  Siricius 
are  said  to  be  buried  there.  Those  who  visit  this  sanctuary  every 
day  obtain  an  indulgence  of  three  thousand  years,  with  remission 
of  a  third  part  of  their  sins  !  Excavations  made  by  Mr.  J.  H. 
Parker,  in  1865,  laid  bare  some  interesting  constructions  beneath 
the  church — supposed  to  be  those  of  the  house  of  Pudens — a  part 
of  the  public  baths  of  Novatus,  the  son  of  Pudens,  which  were  in 
use  for  some  centuries  after  his  time,  and  a  chamber  in  which  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  oratory  dedicated  by  Pius  I.  in  A.D.  145. 

'Eubulus  greeteth  thee,  and  Pudens,  and  Linus,  and  Claudia,  and  all  the 
brethren.' — 2  Timothy  iv.  21. 

'  Here  the  first  converts  met  for  prayers ;  here  Pudentiana,  Praxedes,  and 
Timotheus,  daughters  and  son  of  Pudens,  obtained  from  Pius  I.  the  institution 
of  a  regular  parish-assembly  (titulua)  provided  with  a  baptismal  font ;  and  here, 
for  a  long  time,  were  preserved  some  pieces  of  household  furniture  which  had 
been  used  by  S.  Peter.'  The  tradition  deserves  attention  liecause  it  was  openly 
accepted  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  c&ntwvy.'—Lanciani. 

The  following  account  of  the  family  of  Pudens  is  received  as  the 
legacy  of  Pastor  to  the  Christian  Church  : — 

'  Pudens  went  to  his  Saviour,  leaving  his  daughters  strengthened  with  chastity, 
and  learned  in  all  the  divine  law.  These  sold  their  goods,  and  distributed  the 
produce  to  the  poor,  and  persevered  strictly  in  the  love  of  Christ,  guarding  intact 
the  Hower  of  their  virginity,  and  only  seeking  for  glory  in  vigils,  fastings,  and 
prayer.  They  desired  to  have  a  baptistery  in  their  house,  to  which  the  blessed 
Pius  not  only  consented,  but  with  his  own  hand  drew  the  plan  of  the  fountain. 
Then  calling  in  their  slaves,  both  from  town  and  country,  the  two  virgins  gave 
liberty  to  those  who  were  Christians,  and  urged  belief  in  the  faith  upon  those 
who  had  not  yet  received  it.  By  the  advice  of  the  blessed  Pius,  the  affranchise- 
ment was  declared,  with  all  the  ancient  usages,  in  the  oratory  founded  by 
Pudens ;  then,  at  the  festival  of  Easter,  ninety  six  neophytes  were  baptized  ;  so 

I  Roma  Crixtiana. 


328  Walks  in  Rome 

that  henceforth  assemblies  were  constantly  held  in  the  said  oratory,  which  night 
and  day  I'esounded  with  hymns  of  praise.  Many  pagans  gladly  came  thither  to 
find  the  faith  and  receive  baptism. 

'  Meanwhile  the  Emperor  Antonine,  being  informed  of  what  was  taking  place, 
issued  an  edict  commanding  all  Cliiistians  to  dwell  apart  in  their  own  honses, 
without  mixing  with  the  rest  of  the  people,  and  that  they  should  neither  go  to 
the  public  shops  nor  to  the  baths.  l'ra.\edis  and  Pudentiana  then  assembled 
those  whom  they  had  led  to  the  faith,  and  housed  them.  Ihey  nourished  them 
for  many  days,  watching  and  praying.  The  blessed  bishop  Pius  himself  fre- 
quently visited  us  with  joy,  and  offered  the  sacrifice  for  us  to  the  Saviour. 

'Then  Pudentiana  went  to  God.  Her  sister  and  I  wrapped  her  in  perfumes 
and  kept  her  concealed  in  the  oratory.  Then,  at  the  end  of  twenty-eight  days, 
we  carried  her  to  the  cemetery  of  Priscilla,  and  laid  her  near  her  father  I'udens. 

'Eleven  months  after,  Novatus  died  in  his  turn.  He  bequeathed  his  goods  to 
Praxedis.  and  she  then  begged  of  S.  Pius  to  erect  a  titular  [a  church]  in  the  baths 
of  Novatus,  which  were  no  longer  used,  and  where  there  was  a  large  and  spacious 
hall.  The  bishop  made  the  dedication  in  the  name  of  the  blessed  virgin  Praxedis. 
In  the  same  place  he  consecrated  a  baptistery. 

'  But  at  the  end  of  two  years  a  great  persecution  was  declared  against  the 
Christians,  and  many  of  them  received  the  crown  of  maityrdom.  Praxedis  con- 
cealed a  great  number  of  them  in  her  oratory,  and  nourished  them  at  once  with 
the  food  of  this  world  and  with  the  Word  of  God.  But  the  Emperor  Antonine, 
having  learnt  that  these  meetings  took  place  in  the  oratory  of  Praxedis,  caused 
it  to  be  searched,  and  many  Christians  were  taken,  especially  the  priest  Simetrius 
and  twenty-two  others  ;  and  the  blessed  Praxedis  collected  their  bodies  by  night, 
and  buried  them  in  the  cemetery  of  Priscilla,  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  calends 
of  June.  Then  the  virgin  of  the  Saviour,  worn  out  with  sorrow,  only  asked  for 
death.  Her  tears  and  her  prayers  reached  to  heaven,  and  fifty-four  days  after  her 
brethren  had  suffered  she  passed  to  God ;  and  I,  Pastor,  the  priest,  have  buried 
her  body  near  that  of  her  father  Pudens.' — From  the  Sarration  of  Pastor. 

Returning  by  the  main  line  of  streets  to  tlie  Quattro  Fontane,  we 
pass,  on  the  left,  the  Church  of  S.  Paolo  Primo  Eremita,  rebuilt  by 
Pius  VI.  in  1765.  The  strange-looking  palm  tree  over  the  door,  with 
a  raven  perched  upon  it  and  two  lions  below,  commemorates  the 
story  of  the  saint,  who,  retiring  to  the  desert  at  the  age  of  22,  lived 
there  till  he  was  112,  eating  nothing  but  the  dates  of  his  tree  for 
twenty-two  years,  after  which  bread  was  daily  brought  to  him  by 
a  raven.  In  his  hist  hours  S.  Anthony  came  to  visit  him,  and  was 
present  at  his  burial,  when  two  lions,  his  companions,  came  to  dig 
his  grave.  The  sustaining  palm  tree  and  the  three  animals  who 
loved  S.  Paolo  were  again  represented  over  the  altar.  In  1884  this 
church  was  converted  by  the  Ministry  of  Public  Instruction  into  a 
hall  of  physiological  anatomy  !  Farther  on  the  left  we  pass  the 
Via  S.  Vitale,  occupying  f  art  of  the  site  of  the  Vicus  Longus,  con- 
sidered by  Dyer  to  have  been  the  longest  street  in  the  ancient  city. 
Here  stood  the  Temples  of  Sylvanus  and  of  Fever,  with  that  of 
Pudicitia  Plebeia,  founded  c.  B.C.  297,  by  Virginia  the  patrician,  wife 
of  Volumnius,  when  excluded  from  the  patrician  Temple  of  Pudicitia 
in  the  Forum  Boarium,  on  account  of  her  plebeian  marriage.  'At 
its  altar  none  but  plebeian  matrons  of  unimpeachable  chastity,  and 
who  had  been  married  to  only  one  husband,  were  allowed  to 
sacrifice.'  i 

'I  he  Church  of  S.  Vitale,  on  the  Viminal,  which  now  stands  here, 

1  Dyer,  p.  94. 


S.  Dionisio  329 

facing  the  Via  Nazionale,  was  founded  by  Innocent  I.  in  A.D.  416. 
The  interior  is  covered  witli  frescoes  of  martyrdoms.  It  is  seldom 
open  except  early  on  Sunday  mornings.  S.  Vitale,  father  of  S. 
Gervasius  and  S.  Protasius,  was  the  martyr  and  patron  saint  of 
Ravenna,  who  was  buried  alive  under  Nero.  The  modern  Via 
Nazionale  leads  from  S.  Maria  degli  Angeli  to  the  Corso — passing 
acioss  the  end  of  the  Piazza  SS.  Apostoli — and  contains  the  American 
Church,  a  gothic  building  by  Street,  utteily  unsuited  to  Rome,  and 
the  OaUcria  d\\rte  Modcvna  {i\(\'m\»^\ox\  1  fr.).  C<iiit  inning  tlie  \'ia 
delle  Quattro  Fontane,  on  the  left  is  the  Church  of  S.  Dionisio, 
belonging  to  the  Basilican  nuns,  called  Apo.-~toline  di  S.  Basilio. 
It  contains  an  Ecce  Homo  of  Luca  Giordano,  and  the  gaudy  shrine 
of  the  virgin  martyr  S.  Coraola. 


INDEX 


A. 


Academy    for    art    students,    i.    33 ; 

costume,  36 ;  of  S.  Luke,  113 
Accademia,  Arcadian,  ii.  325  ;  annual 

entertainment  in  honour  of  Tasso 

at,  ii.  318 

dei  Lincei,  ii.  322 
Aedes  Castorum,  i.  120 
Aerarium,  the,  i.  117 
Aesculapius,  Temple  of,  ii.  259 
Affoga  I'Asino,  ii.  268 
Agger  of  Servius  Tullius,  remains  of 

the,  ii.  4,  25 
Agnese,  S.,  martyrdom  of,  ii.  135 
Agrippa,  Baths  of,  ii.  109,  147 
Alban  Hills,  i.  294  ;  ii.  77 
Albani,  Francesco,  i.  95,  188 ;  ii.  298 
Alberteschi  family,   castle  of  the,  ii. 

262 
All)ertinelli,  i.  319 
Aldobrandini  family,   burial-place  of 

the,  ii.  149 ;  palace  of  the,  i.  321 
Algardi,  i.  55,  60,  91,  138 
Allia,  the,  ii.  308 
Alnio,  the,  i.  260,  262,  271 ;  ii.  292 
Altieri  family,   palace  of  the,  i    70 ; 

burial-place  of  the,  ii.  151 
Alunno,  Niccolo,  i.  63;  ii.  236 
Amatrice,  Cola  dell',  i.  95 ;  ii.  85 
Amici,  ii.  184 

Ammanati,  1.  46,  56  ;  ii.  326 
Amphitheatre  of  Statilius  Taurus,  ii. 

108 
Amphitheatrum  Castrense,  ii.  94 
Angelico,   Fra,  ii.  151,  152,   153,   217, 

221 
Angelo,  S. ,  castle  of,  ii.   160 ;  Ponte, 

ii.  159 
Anicii,  castle  built  by  the  family  of 

the,  ii.  258 
Anlo,  river,  ii.  12,  21 ;  castle  of  Kustica 

on  the,  ii.  96 
Antemnae,  site  of,  ii.  12,  303 
Antinous,  the  famous  relief  of,  ii.  11  ; 

the  jnost  celebrated  statues  of,  i. 

89  ;  ii.  231,  239,  253 


Antiquities,   shops  at  which  to  buy, 

i.  20 ;  in  the  Baths  of  Diocletian,  ii. 

30-32;  in  the  Kircherian  Museum, 

i.   56 ;  in  Palazzo  Torlunia,  i.  68 ; 

principal  receptacle  in  Rome  for, 

ii.  82  ;  Christian,  ii.  84  ;  in  Palazzo 

Vidoni,   ii.    130 ;    in    the   Vatican 

Library,  ii.  246 ;   in  the  Etruscan 

Museum,  ii.  249;  in  the  Egyptian 

Museum,  ii.  252 
Apollo,   obelisk  in  honour  of,  i.   24 ; 

temple  of,  i.  216;  ii.  106;  Belve- 
dere, ii.  238 
Appia,  Via,  i.  260 ;  beginning  of  the 

beauty  of,  1.  294 
Aqua  Acetosa,  ii.  304 

Alcxandrina,  ii.  95 

Alsietina,  ii.  89 

Anio  Novus,  ii.  94 

Anio  Vetus,  ii.  89 

Argentina,  i.  160 

Bollicante,  ii.  95 

Claudia,  ii.  87,  88,  89 

Felice,  ii.  33,  88 

Marcia,  remains  of,  ii.  88,  89,  91 

Tepula,  ii.  96 

Trajana,  ii.  54 

Vergine,  i.  49 ;  ii.  108 

Vetus,  ii.  89 
Aqueduct,  Claudian,  i.  260;  ii.  89,  92 
Aquinas,  S.  Thomas,  i.  250  ;  ii.  148, 150 
Ara  Coeli,  i.  98 
Arches  (Arco) — 

deir  Annunziata,  ii.  270 

of  Augustus,  i.  133 

of  Camillus,  ii.  155 

of  Claudius,  i.  54,  296 

of  the  Cloaca  Maxima,  i.  166 

cif  C.iiist.'vntine,  i.  151 

(if  Dolaliella,  i.  231 

of  Uoniitian,  i.  41 

of  Drusus,  i.  270 

of  Fabius,  i.  132 

of  Faustiims,  i.  251 

of  Gallienus,  ii.  52 

of  Gordian,  i.  41,  60 

of  Gratian,  ii.  109 


332 


Index 


Arches  (Arco>— 

of  Jaims,  i.  131,  1C6 

di  S.  Lazzaro,  ii.  280 

of  Maniis  Carneae,  i.  68 

of  Marcia,  ii.  81 

of  Marcus  Aurelius,  i.  41,  47,  91 ; 
ii.  109 

of  Pacis,  i.  ol 

liei  Paiitani,  i.  112 

of  Piety,  ii.  147 

of  Sepliraius  Severus,  i.  118 

— miniature,  i.  108 

of  Sixtus  IV  ,  ii.  25 

of  Tiljerius,  i.  117  ;  ii.  109 

of  Titus,  i.  146 

of  Trajan,  i.  109,  270 

of  Verus,  i.  270 
Arco  Oscuro,  the,  ii.  304 
Armitustrum,  i.  244 
Arnolplius,  worlc  of,  ii.  191,  192,  194, 

200 
Arpino,  Cav.  d',  i.  90,  91,  188,  319  ;  ii. 

33,  63,  86,  178,  271 ;  tomli  of,  ii.  75 
Artists,  studios  of,  i.  21 ;  listsof  sulijects 

for,  i.  22 ;  frescoes  by  modern  Ger- 
man, i.  36;  models  for,  i.  37;  casino 

decorated  by  modern  German,  ii. 

86  ;  Festa  of  the,  ii.  96 
Arvales,  grove  and  temple  of  tlie,  ii. 

268 
Arx,  the,  i.  75 
Assisi,  Andrea  di,  1.  92 
Atrium  Vestae,  i.  123 
Atticus,  Herodes,  romantic  story  of,  i. 

2S8 
Auditorium  of  Maecenas,  ii.  20,  66 
Augustine,  S.,  departure  from  Rome 

of,  i.  224  ;  tomb  of  the  mother  of, 

ii.  Ill 
Augustus,  palace  of,  i.  214 ;  beautiful 

bust  of,  ii.  234 ;  famous  statue  of, 

ii.  242  ;  burial  of,  i.  42,  143 
Aurelian.  wall  of,  i.  270;  Temple  of  the 

Sun,  Iniilt  by,  i.  318 
Avanzo,  .Tacopo,  i.  64 
Aventine,  the,  i.  243 


B. 


Babuino,  the,  i.  36 

Baccio  Bigio,  Nanni  di,  ii.  114 

Baciccio,  i.  309  ;  ii.  149,  270 

Badalocchi,  i.  227 

Baglioni,  ii.  29 

Baini,  ii.  291 

Bambino,  II  Santissimo,  i.  101 

Bandinelli,  Baccio,  ii.  152 

Baptistery  of  the  Lateran,  ii.  69 

Barberini,   Piazza,   i.  304 ;    Palazzo,   i. 

304  ;  bees  of  the,  i.  38,  .305  ;  ii.  185  ; 

Cardinal,  ii.  2  ;  Casino  of  the,  ii.  4  ; 

garden,  i.  308 


Barcaccia,  the,  i,  38 
Barigioni,  Kilippo,  ii.  189 
Baroccio,  ii.  117,  149,  154.  254,  321 
I'.arracks  of  the  Equites  Singulares,  ii. 

86 
Bartolommeo,  Fra,  i.  54  ;  ii.  300 
Basilicas  (Pagan)— 

of  Aemilius  Paulus,  i.  131 

of  Constantine,  i.  135 

of  Julia,  i.  119 

of  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars,  i.  197 

of  Matidia.  ii.  109 

Porcia,  i   129 
Basilicas  (Christian)— 

S.  Agnese  fuori  le  Mura,  ii.  17 

S   Alessandro,  ii.  22 

S.  Croce,  ii.  91 

Eudoxian,  ii.  41 

S.  Giovanni  Laterano,  ii.  71 

Liberian,  ii.  .58 

S.  Lorenzo,  ii.  97 

S   Maria  Alapgiore,  ii.  58 

S.  Paold  fuori  le  Mura,  ii.  289 

.S.  Pietni.  ii.  170 

Salvatoris,  ii.  71 

S.  Sebastiano,  i.  289 

Se-sorian,  ii.  91 

S.  Stefano,  ii.  88 

S,  Zeno,  i.  284 

Valerian  and  Maximus,  i.  284 
Bassano,  Giacomo,  ii.  140 
Bastione  di  Belvidere,  ii.  312 
Baths— 

of  Agrippa.  ii.  105,  147 

of  Caracalla,  i.  262 ;  ii.  85,  122,  240 

of  Constantine,  i.  318 

of  Decius,  i.  256 

of  Diocletian,  ii.  27 

enervating  influence  of  the,  i.  263 

of  Nero,  ii.  109 

of  Emilius  Paulus,  i.  321 

of  Titus,  ii.  39 

of  Trajan,  ii.  40,  47 
Battoni.  i.  63;  ii.  29,  317,  322 
Bazzani,  i.  250 

Befania.  festival  of  the,  ii.  146 
Bellini,  Giovanni,  i.  63.  95;  ii.  299 
Belvidere  of  the  Villa  Medici,  i.  34 

of  the  Vatican,  ii.  254 
Beltraffio,  ii.  317 
Benedict.  S.,  house  of,  ii.  261 
Benzoni,  i.  164 
Bernini,  i.  49,  61,  92,  304  ;  ii.   33,  54, 

74,  111,  137,  138,  147,  153,  159,  174, 

177,  182,  185,  186,  202,  211,  297 
Bianchi,  P.,  ii  29 
Bocca  della  Verita,  i.  169 
Bologna,  Pellegrino  da,  ii.  140 
Bonfigli,  Benedetto,  i.  92 
Bonifazio,  ii.  299,  300 
Bordone,  Paris,  ii.  300 
Borghese,  Camillo,  tomb  of,  ii.  62 
Chapel,  ii.  61 
Palace,  i.  44 


Index 


333 


Borghese,  Palazzetto,  i.  45 
Piazza,  i.  45 
Picture  gallery,  ii.  297 
Princess,    funeral    of,    ii. 

63 
Villa,  ii.  295 
Borgia,    family    burial-place    of,    ii. 
70 
Caesar,  ii.  44,  311 
S.  Francis,  Collegio  Romano  foun- 
ded by,  i.  56 ;  death  chamlier  of, 
i.  70 
Lucrezia,  ii.  45,  247 
Rodrigo,  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  ii. 
119,  138,  191,  311 
Borgo,  the,  ii.  165 
Borgognone,  i.  309 
Borromeo,  S.  Carlo,  i.  70;  ii.  5li 
Borromini,  i.  48,  3U4  ;  ii.  72,  117,  122, 

125,  137 
Boschetto,  the,  i.  34 
Bosco  Parrasio,  ii.  325 
Both,  ii.  321 

Botticelli,  Sandro,  i.  63,  307  ;  ii.  300 
Bracci,  Pietro,  i.  52 ;  ii.  1.53,  184 
Bramante,   ii.    116,  123,  124,  158,  172, 

201,  211,  327 
Brandini,  i.  309 
Brescia,  Moretto  da,  ii.  227 
Bresciano,  Prospero,  ii.  33 
Brill,  Paul,  i.  317  ;  ii.  29,  211 
British  Embassy,  ii.  23 
Bronzes,   collections  of,  i.    56,  93  ;   ii. 

31,  250 
Bronzino,  1.  44,  60 ;  ii.  298 
Burial-ground,  German,  ii.  197 ;  Jew- 
ish, i.  247  ;  Protestant,  ii.  282,  283 


Cacus,  Stairs  of,  i.  203 

Caesars,  Palace  of  the,  i.  192 

Caetani,  Scipione,  i.  307,  319 ;  ii.  74, 
117,  246 

Cafffe  Veneziano,  i.  53 

Cagnacci,  Guido,  i.  113 

Caius  Gracchus,  spot  where  he  was 
killed,  ii.  267 

Calabrese,  II,  ii.  129 

Calendar,  Paschal,  ii.  85 ;  new,  in- 
vented in  the  reign  of  Gregory 
XIII.,  ii.  183 

Caligula,  Palace  of,  i.  207  ;  Bridge  of, 
i.  209 ;  obelisk  brought  to  Rome 
by,  ii,  168  ;  Circus  of,  ii.  200 

Camassei,  Andrea,  ii.  69 

Cambio,  Arnolfo  del,  ii.  192 

Cameos,  i.  20 

Camera  dei  Deputati,  i.  50 

Camosci,  Pietro,  ii.  45 

Campagna,  i.  34,  294-301 ;  ii.  12,  21-23, 
88-91,  95-96,  268-269,  285,  292, 
274,  306-308 


Campaniles  of — 

S.  Benedetto  a  Piscinuola,  ii.  261 

S.  Cecilia,  ii.  264 

S.  Crisogono,  ii.  271 

S.  Eustachio,  ii.  142 

S.  Francesca  Romana,  i.  142 

S.  Giorgio  in  Velabro,  i.  167 

S.  Giovanni  a  Porta  Latina,  i.  268 

S.  Lorenzo  in  Lucina,  i.  46 

S.  Lorenzo  Pane  e  Perna,  i.  324 

S.  Maria  in  Cappella,  ii.  263 

S.  Maria  in  Monticelli,  ii.  127 

S.  Sisto,  i.  267 
Campo  Militare,  ii.  24 
de'  Fiori,  ii.  123 
Vaccino,  i.  136 
Verano,  ii.  102 
Campus  E.squilinns,  ii.  26 
Martins,  ii.  105 
Sceleratus,  ii.  23 
Camuccini,  ii.  291 
Canaletto,  ii.  321 
Canova,  i.  42,  64,  92,  138,  305 ;  ii.  184, 

220,  239,  296 
Cantharus,  at  S.  Cecilia,  ii.  264  ;  at  S. 

Paolo,  ii.  291 
Capena,  Porta,  site  of,  i.  260 
Capitoline  Hill,  the,  i.  72 
Cappuccini  Cemetery,  ii.  2 

Piazza,  ii.  1 
Caprino,  Meo  del,  i  04 
Caravaggio,  i.  54,  92,  96,  319  ;  ii.  140, 

214,  226,  299 
Carinae,  ii.  36 
Caritas  Romana,  i.  175 
Carracci,  Agostino,  i.  63 

Annibale,  i.  61,  63,  92,  227; 
ii.  121,  270,  316;  tomb  of, 
11.  131 
Ludovico,  i.  318 
Casale  dei  Pazzi,  ii.  22 
Casino— 

in  Villa  Albani,  ii.  10 

in  Villa  Borghese,  ii.  295 

of  Villa  Doria,  ii.  330 

in  Villa  Ludovisi,  ii.  6 

del  Papa,  ii.  254 

di  Papa  Giulio,  ii.  303 

in  Quirinal  Gardens,  i.  317 

of  Raffaelle,  ii.  299,  302 

of  the  Rospigliosi,  i,  317 
Castel  Giubileo,  ii.  13,  307 
Castellani,  shop  of,  1.  53 
Castelli,  Bernardo,  ii.  1.04 
Castles  of — 

S.  Angelo,  ii.  160 

the  Alberteschi  family,  Ii.  2ti2 

the  Anicii  family,  ii.  258 

the  Anguillara,  ii.  270 

the  Caetani,  i.  294 

Crescenza,  ii.  307 

the  del  Grillo,  i.  112 

del  Osa,  ii.  96 

Rustica,  ii.  96 


334 


Index 


Catacombs — 

of  SS.  Abdon  and  Seniieii,  ii.  320 

of  8.  A^'iiese,  ii.  10 

of  Anatolia,  i.  275 

of  Calepodius,  ii.  320 

of  S.  Oalixtiis,  i.  27;j 

ad  Catacumbas,  i.  200 

of  S.  Ciriaca,  ii.  100,  102 

of  S.  Felicitas,  ii.  13 

of  S.  Felix,  i.  32 

of  .S.  ticiierosa,  ii.  260 

of  SS.  (iianutus  and  Basilla,  ii.  303 

of  S.  Ilippolyttis,  ii.  104 

.Jewish,  i.  202 

of  S.  Julius,  ii.  320 

of  S   Lucina,  i.  276 

of  SS.  Xereo  ed  Achilleo,  i.  284 

S.  Nieodemus,  ii.  17 

ad  Nyniphas,  ii.  23 

of  SS.  Pietro  e  Marcellino,  ii.  05 

of  S.  Ponziano,  ii.  329 

of  S.  Pretextatus,  i   283 

of  S.  Piiscilla,  ii.  13 

of  the  Sauti  Quattro,  ii.  80 

of  S.  Subastiaiio,  i.  200 

of  S.  Soteris,  i.  276 

of  SS.  Thraso  and  Saturninus,  ii. 
13 

of  S.  Valentine,  ii.  303 
(Jathedra  Petri,  ii.  185 
Catherine,  S.,  of  Siena,  i.  148;  ii.  151 
Cavallini,  Pietro,  ii.  174,  181,  273,  274, 

200 
Cavalluccio,  ii.  46 
Cave  of  Cacus,  i.  254 
Cecilia,  S.,  burial-place  of,  i.  277  ;  story 

of,  ii.  263 
Cellini,  Benvenuto,  ii.  164,  106 
Cemeteries — 

of  the  Cappuccini,  ii.  2 

oldest  Christian,  ii.  197 

of  Conimodilla,  ii.  288 

S.  Generosa.  ii.  269 

German,  ii.  197 

.Jewish,  i.  247 

of  S.  Lorenzo,  ii.  102 

Protestant,  ii.  283 

old  Protestatit.  ii.  282 

of  S.  Zenone,  ii.  285 
Cenci,  the  tragedy  of  the,  i.  186-188  ; 

so-called  portraits  of  Lucrezia  and 

Beatrice,  i.  307  ;  grave  of  Beatrice, 

ii.  327 
Centocellae,  ii.  95 
Cervaletto,  ii.  96 
Cervara,  ii.  OiJ 
Chapel  s- 

of  S.  Andrew,  i.  228 

of  S.  Andrews  Head,  ii,  305,  331 

of  S.  Anna  dei  Falegnami  ii.  275 

of  the  Argei,  206 

of  S,  Barbara,  Ii.  228 
Borghese,  ii.  61 

Corsini,  ii,  74 


Chapels— 

of  the  Farewell,  ii.  284 

S.  Felicitas,  ii.  39 

S.  Giovanni  in  Oleo,  i,  268 

Holy  Cross,  ii,  309 
of  S,  Lorenzo   in  the  Vatican,  ii. 
217 

of  the  Orto  del  Paradiso,  ii.  40 

iTi  Palazzo  Altemps,  ii.  112 

Paoline,  ii.  203 

of  the  Popes,  i.  276 

of  the  Pregatrici,  ii.  4 

S,  Silvestro,  i,  238 

of  S.  Silvia,  i,  227 

Sistine,  ii.  203 
Chapter  House  of  S.  Sisto,  i.  267 
Chiesa  Apostolica,  i.  240 
Christina,  Queen  of  Sweden,  i.  28  ;  ii, 

182,  191,  320 
Churches  most  worth  seeing,  1.  21 
Churches  of— 

SS.  Abdon  and  Sennen,  i,  160 

S.  Adriano,  i,  139 

S,  Agata  del  Colosseo,  i.  IKO 
dei  Goti,  i.  321 

S.  Agnese,  ii.  135 

fuori  le  Mura,  ii.  17 

S.  Agostino,  ii.  Ill 

S.  Alessio,  i.  252 

American,  i,  328 

S.  Anastasia,  i,  163 

S,  Andrea,  ii.  305 

delle  Fratte,  i.  48 

S.  Andrea  a  Monte  Cavallo,  i.  309 
della  Valle,  ii.  129 

S.  Angelo  in  Pescheria,  i.  179 

S.  Anna,  i,  247 

S.  Antonio,  ii,  87 

S.  Antonio  Abbate,  ii,  56 

S.  Antonio  dei  Portoghesi,  ii.  110 

S.  Apollinare,  ii.  112 

SS.  Apostoli,  i.  64 

Ara  Coeli,  i.  98 

S.  Atanasio,  i.  36 

S.  Balbina,  i.  258 

S.  Bartolommeo,  ii.  258 

S.  Basilio,  i.  253 

S.  Benedetto  a  Piscinuola,  ii.  261 

S.  Bernardo,  ii.  34 

S.  Bibiana,  ii.  54 

S,  Brigitta,  ii.  121 

S,  Buenaventura,  i,  140 

of  the  Caiitani,  i.  294 

S.  Caio,  ii.  33 

S.  Calisto,  ii.  275 

I  Cappuccini,  ii.  1 

La  Caravita,  i.  54 

S.  Carlo  a  Catinari,  ii,  128 
in  Corso,  i,  44 
a  Quattro  Fontane,  i.  309 

S.  Catarina  de'  Funari,  i,  189 

di  Siena,  i.  319  ;  ii,  157 

S.  Cecilia,  ii  263 

S,  Celso  in  Banchi,  ii,  157 


Index 


335 


Churches  of— 

S.  Cesareo,  i.  267 
S.  Cesario  in  Palatio,  i.  U>1 
Chiesa  Nuova,  ii.  117 
S.  Claudio,  i.  40 
S.  Clemente,  i.  239 
S.  Cosiniato,  ii.  275 
SS.  Cosmo  e  Daniiano,  i.  14(i 
S.  Costanza,  ii.  18 
S.  Crisogono,  ii.  271 
.S.  Crispino  a  Ponte,  ii.  262 
S.  Croce  in  Gerusalenime,  ii.  '.)1 
di  Monte  Mario,  ii.  31U 

I  Crociferi,  i.  53 
S.  Dionisio,  i.  328 

SS.  Domenico  e  Sisto,  i.  320 
Domine  ([uo  Vadis,  i.  272 
S.  Uorotea,  ii.  276 
S.  Eligio,  ii.  123 
S.  Erasnio,  i.  237 
S.  Eusebio,  ii.  54 
S.  Eustachio,  ii.  142 
.S.  Francesca  Roniana,  i.  142 
S.  Francesco  di  Paolo,  ii.  45 
a  Ripa,  ii.  270 

II  Gesii,  i.  69 
Gesii  e  Maria,  i.  42 

S.  Giacomo  in  Aino,  ii.  119 

del  Colosseo,  i.  160 
degli  Incurabili,  i.  42 
Scossa  Cavalli,  ii.  167 
degli  Spagnuoli,  ii.  138 
S.  Giorgio  in  Velabro,  i.  167 
S.  Giovanni  Decollato,  i.  174 

dei  Fiorentini,  ii.  15S 
alia  Lungara,  ii.  319 
e  Paolo,  1.  229 
della  Pigna,  ii.  147 
a  Porta  Latina,  i.  268 
S.  Girolamo  della  Carita,  ii.  120 

degli  Schiavoni,  i.  41 
S.    Giuseppe    dei    Falegnami,    i. 

107 
Greek,  i.  36 
S.  Gregorio,  i.  226 
S.  Ignazio,  i.  55 
S.  Isidore,  ii.  4 
S.  Ivo,  ii.  141 

SS.  Lorenzo  e  Daniaso,  ii.  125 
S.  Lorenzo  in  Fonte,  i.  324 
in  Lucina,  i.  46 
in  Miranda,  i.  139 
fuori  le  Mura,  ii.  97 
Pane  e  Perna,  i.  324 
S.  Lucia  del  Gonfalone,  ii.  119 
S.  Luigi  dei  i>ancesi,  ii.  139 
S.  Marcello,  i.  55 
S.  Marco,  i.  69 
S.  Maria  degli  Angeli,  ii.  28 
deir  Aninia,  ii.  113 
Antica,  i.  221 
in  Aquiro,  i.  51 
Aventina,  i.  253 
in  Canipitelli,  i.  189 


Churches  of— 

S.  Maria  in  Cappella,  ii.  263 

della  Concezione,  ii.  1 
in  Cosniedin,  i.  168 
in  Domenica,  i.  233 
E>;yptiaca,  i.  171 
della  Febre,  ii.  171 
delle  Fornace,  ii.  331 
della  Gloria,  i.  297 
in  Grotta  Pinta,  ii.  129 
Liberatrice,  i.  139,  221 
di  Loreto,  i.  110 
Maggiore,  ii.  58 
ad  Martyres,  ii.  143 
sopra  Minerva,  ii.  148 
di  Monserrato,  ii.  119 
in  .Monti,  i.  323 
in  Mdiiticelli,  ii.  127 
della  Morte,  ii.  122 
della  Navicella,  i.  233 
Nuova,  i.  142 
del  Orto,  ii.  269 
della  Pace.  ii.  115 
Pallara,  i.  14y 
del  Pianto,  i.  186 
della  Pieta,  i.  159  ;  ii.  147 
della    Pieta    in    Canipo 

Santo,  ii.  197 
del  Popolo,  i.  25 
del  Kosario,  ii.  310 
Scala  Coeli,  ii.  285 
del  Sole,  i.  170 
Traspontina,  ii.  166 
in  Trastevere,  ii.  272 
in  Trivia,  i.  52 
in  Vallicella,  ii.  116 
in  Via,  i.  49 
in  Via  Lata,  i.  57 
di  Vienna,  i.  110 
della  Vittoria,  ii.  32 

8.  Marta,  ii.  197 

S.  Martina,  i.  138 

S.  Martino  al  Monte,  ii.  46 

S.  Michele  in  Sassia,  ii.  198 

S.  Nereo  ed  Achilleo,  i.  265 

S.  Mccolo  in  Carcere,  i.  174 
da  Tolentino,  ii.  4 

Xome  di  Maria,  i.  110 

S.  Onofrio,  ii.  315 

S.  Onufrio  i!i  Canipagna,  ii.  311 

S.  Pancrazio,  ii.  328 

S.  Pantaleone,  ii.  132 

S.  Paolo  fuori  le  Mura,  ii.  287 
primo  Erenuta,  i.  328 
alia  Regola,  ii.  278 
alle  Tre  Fontane,  ii.  286 

Perpetua  Adoratricedel  Divin  Sac- 
ramento, i.  310 

S.  Petronilla,  ii.  170 

S.  Pietro,  ii.  170 

S.  Pietro  in  Carcere,  i.  104 
e  IMarcellino,  ii.  87 
in  Montorio,  ii.  326 
in  Vincoli,  ii.  40 


336 


Index 


Churclies  of — 

S.  Prassede,  ii.  48 
S.  Piisca,  i.  255 
Protestant,  i.  36  ;  ii.  293 
S.  Piiiientiana,  i.  326 
SS.  Quattro  Iiicoronati,  i.  238 
SS.  Rocco  e  Mai'tiiio,  i.  41 
S.  Rutliia,  ii.  272 
S.  .Sal)l)a,  i.  257 
S.  Sabina,  i.  248 
S.  Salvatore  in  Laiiro,  ii.  156 
de  Insula,  i.  160 
de  Rota  Colisei,  i.  160 
de  Trasi,  i.  160 
in  Thermis,  ii.  141 
in  Torrione,  ii.  198 
in  Tellure,  i.  160 
II  Santissinio  Redentore,  ii.  51 
S.  Sebastiano,  i.  289 

in  Palatine,  i.  ?49 
SS.  Sergiiis  and  Bacchus,  i.  323 
S.  Silvestro  in  Capite,  i.  48 

a    Monte    Cavallo,    i. 
318 
S.  Sisto,  i.  266 

S.  Spirito  dei  Napolitani,  ii.  119 
S.  Stefano,  ii.  197 

delle  Carrozze,  i.  170 
a  Piscinuola,  ii.  119 
Rotondo,  i.  233 
del  Tiullo,  i.  51 
S.  Susanna,  ii.  34 
S.  Teodoro,  i.  162 
S.  Teresa,  ii.  33 
S.  Tommaso  dei  Cenci,  1.  186 
in  Formis,  i.  283 
degli  Inglesi,  ii.  119 
S.  Trinita  de'  Monti,  i.  35 

dei  Pellegrini,  ii.  127 
S.  Urbano,  1.  287 
S.  Vincenzo  ed  Anastasio,  ii.  286 
S.  Vitale,  i.  328 
S.  Vito,  ii.  52 
Cianipelll,  Agostino,  ii.  54 
Cigoli,  ii.  63,  158 
Cimabue,  ii.  247 

Cimeterium  ad  Catacnmbas,  i.  290 
Oircolo  degli  Artisti,  i.  36 
Circus  Agonalis,  ii.  137 

of  FlaniiniuB,  i.  189;  ii.  106 
of  Maxentius,  i.  293 
Maximus,  i.  164 
of  Nero,  ii.  200 
Cispius,  the,  i.  209 ;  ii.  36 
Civitas  Leoniana,  ii.  165 
Clivus  Capitolinus,  i.  115 
Martis,  i.  271 
Publicius,  i.  245 
Victoriae,  i.  207 
Cloaca   of    the    Circus    Maximus,    i. 
172 

Maxima,  i.  166 
Cloister  of  the  Lateran,  ii.  76 
of  S.  Lorenzo,  ii.  102 


Cloister  of  S.  Maria  della  Pace,  ii.  116 
of  the  .Minerva,  ii.  155 
of  S.  Onofrio,  ii.  316 
of  S.  Paolo,  ii.  289 
Clovio,    Giulio,    ii.    246 ;   tomb  of,    ii. 

41 
Coelian  Hill,  i.  222 
Coliseum,  the,  i.  152 
Collatia,  ii.  96 
Colle,  Le,  ii.  318 

Raffaello  da,  ii.  219 
Colleges- 
English,  ii.  119 
Proijuganda,  i.  38 
Romano,  i.  56 
Sapienza,  ii.  141 
Colossus  of  Nero,  i.  146 
Colonna  (Column)— 

of  Antoninus  Pius,  i.  50;  ii.  253 
Bellica,  ii.  107 
Duilia,  i.  129 
of  .Julius  Caesar,  i.  133 
Lactaria,  i.  175 
Maenia,  i.  116 
Marco  Aurelio,  i.  50 
of  tiie  Piazza  di  Spagna,  i.  38 
of  Phocas,  i.  127 
Santa,  ii.  49,  181 
'I'rajano,  i.  109 
(lella  Vergine,  ii.  58 
Columbarium  of  the  Arruntia,  ii.  56 

of  the  freedmen  of  Au- 
gustus   and    Livia,   i. 
271 
of  the  freedman  of  Oc- 

tavia,  i.  268 
of    the    Household    of 

Caesar,  i.  269 
of  Pomponius  Hylas,  i. 

269 
Colossus  of  Nero,  i.  146 
of  the  Statilii,  ii.  56 
of  the  Vigna  Codini,  i. 

269 
of  T.  C.  Vital  is,  ii.  88 
Columnae  Honorariae,'i.  120 
Comitium,  the.  i.  116,  129 
Consalvi,    Cardinal,    tomb    of,   i.    55 ; 

monument  of,  ii.  146 
Conte,  Giacomo  del,  ii.  140 
Convent  of — 

S.  Agata  in  Suburra,  i.  321 
S.  Alessio,  i.  251 
S.  Antonio  Abbate,  ii.  56 
SS.  Apostoli,  1.  65 
Ara  Coeli,  i.  104 
S.  Bartolommeo,  ii.  258 
of  Benedictines,  i.  255 
S.  Bernardo  Senensis,  i.  322 
Buon  restore,  ii.  319 
S.  Buonaventura,  1.  149 
the  Cappuccini,  ii.  2 
Cappuccine    alle    Sette    Sale,    ii. 
40 


Index 


337 


Convent  of — 

S.  Caterina,  i.  320 

S.  Cecilia,  ii.  263 

the  Certosa.  ii.  30 

S.  Eusebio,  ii.  54 

S.  Francesca  Roniaiia,  i.  14.') 

S.  Francesco  di  Paola,  ii.  47 

S.  Filippo  Neri,  ii.  48 

the  Gesii,  i.  70 

SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  i.  231 

S   Gregorlo,  i.  228 

S.  Lorenzo  Pane  e  Perna,  i.  324 

S.  Lucia  in  Selci,  ii.  48 

S.  Maria  degli  Angeli,  ii.  30 

S.  Maria  della  Pace,  ii.  116 

S.  Maria  del  Popolo,  i.  2S 

S.  Maria  in  Monti,  i.  323 

S.  Maria  in  Vallicella,  ii  117 

the  Maronites,  ii.  45 

the  Minerva,  ii.  155 

the  Monache  Polacche,  ii.  52 

the    Novitiate    of   the    Order    of 
Jesus,  i.  310 

of  the  Nunziatina,  i.  110 

S.  Onofrio,  ii.  316 

the  Oratorians,  ii.  48 

S.  Pancrazio,  ii.  328 

S.  Paolo,  ii.  287 

Perpetue  Adolatrici,  ii.  310 

S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  ii.  45 

the  Poor  Clares,  ii.  275 

the  Pregatrici,  ii.  4 

Quattro  Incoronati,  i.  239 

S.  Sabina,  i.  251 

Sacr6  Coeur,  i.  35 

Sepolte  Vive,  i.  323 

S.  Silvestro,  i.  48 

S.  Sisto,  i.  267 

S.  Tomniaso  in  Formis,  i.  232 

Tor  di  Specchi,  i.  190 

Via  Vittoria,  i.  44 
Coppi.  Jacopo,  ii.  41 
Cordieri.  Niccolo,  i.  228  ;  ii.  71,  140 
Cordon  nata.  La,  i.  77 
Cornelius,  i.  36 
Correggio,  ii.  228,  299 
Corso,  the,  i.  24,  41 
Corso  Vittorio  Emanuele,  ii.  125,  129, 

130 
Cortona,  Pietro  da,  i.  60,  96,  138-139, 

305;  ii.  2,  54,  115,  117,  138,  156,  182 
Cosmati,  the,  i.  98,  100,  143,  232,  257, 

259 ;  ii.  65,  76,  81,  102,  150,  289 
Costanzi,  P.,  ii.  29 
Cranach,  Lucas,  ii.  301 
Credi,  Lorenzo  di,  i.  95  ;  ii.  300 
Crescenza,  ii.  307 
Crimera,  the,  ii.  307 
Cristoferi,  ii.  181 
Crivelli,  Carlo,  i.  69 ;  ii.  85 
Croce,  Baldassare,  ii.  34 
Cross  of  Henry  IV.,  ii.  58 
Crypta,  i.  185 
Crypt  of  the  Glabriones,  ii.  15 

VOL.  I. 


Crypto-Porticus,  the,  i.  196 
Curia,  the,  i.  129 

Ponipeiana,  ii.  129 


D. 


Ualmatica  di  S.  Leone,  ii.  197 
Dainasus,  Pope,  inscriptions  of,  i.  248. 

249,  253.  259,  277  ;  ii.  269 
David,  i.  309 

Diocletian,  Baths  of,  ii.  27 
Diribitorium,  ii.  108 
Dolce,  Carlo,  ii.  300,  321,  322 
Domenichino,  i.  95,  1S8,  228,  300,  318; 

ii.  2,  29,  33,  42,  86,  121,   129,   139, 

221,  273,  29S,  316 
Dominic,  S.,  residence  at  Rome  of,  i. 

248,  2.50 
Domus  Lateratia,  ii.  77 
Pineiana,  ii.  10 
Tiberiana,  i.  107 
I  Valeriorum,  i.  237 
Vectiliana,  i.  231 
Donatello,  i.  100 
Doria,    portrait    of    Andrew,    i.    (io ; 

Palazzo,  i.  60  ;  Villa,  ii.  ;^30 
Dorotea,  S.,  legend  of,  ii.  276 
Dosso  Dossi,  i.  61  ;  ii.  299 
Diirer,  Albert,  works  of,  1.  306 


E. 

Easter  benediction,  the,  ii.  170 
Egeria,  fountain  of,  i.  202  ;  grotto  and 

grove  of,  i.  287 
Egyptian  Museum,  ii.  252 
Emmanuel,  King  Victor,  death  of.  i 

315  ;  grave  of,  ii.  140 
Emporium,  the,  ii.  2S0 
English  Quarter,  i.  38 
Esquiliue,  the,  ii.  35 
Etruscan  jewellery,  i.  52  ;  Museum,  ii. 

249 
Evangelisti,  Filippo,  i.  101 


F. 


Fabii,  destruction  of  the,  ii.  .307 
Fabriano,  Gentile  da,  i.  64 
Fabris,  de,  ii.  174,  182,  184,  31G 
Faenza,  Marco  da,  ii.  218 
Fagutal,  i.  209 

Falcone,  Ristauratore  del,  ii.  141 
Farnese,  Palazzo,  ii.  121 
Farnesina,  the,  323 
Fasti  Consulares,  the,  i.  92 
Faustulus,  hut  of,  i.  203 
Ferrari,  Francesco,  i.  226 
Ferrata,  Ercole,  ii.  61,  136,  184 
Festa  degli  Artisti,  ii.  96 


338 


Index 


Fiamingo,  Arrigo,  i.  110 ;  ii.  20 
Kiesole,  Vm  Angelico.    See  Angelico. 

Miiio  ila,  ii.  60,  65,  154,  194 
Filarete,  Antonio,  ii.  72,  174 
Filoiuena.  S.,  ii.  14 
Fieri,  Mario  de,  i.  63 
Folijino,  Madonna  di,  i.  100  ;  ii.  223 
Kons  Juturnae,  1.  221 
Fontana,  i.  64  ;  ii.  41,  06,  168,  182 
Forli,  Melozzoda,  1.  316;  ii.  196,  226 
Forma  I'rbis,  i.  134 
Forum  of  Aua:ust\is,  i.  Ill 
Boarium,  i.  165 
of  Julius  Caesar,  i.  68,  113 
of  Nerva,  i.  Ill 
Pacis,  i.  135 
Emilius  Paulus,  i.  131 
Romanum,  i    114 
of  Trajan,  i.  109 
Transitoriura,  i.  112 
Ulpian,  i.  lOS 
Fosso  di  Kormello,  ii.  307 
Fountains — 

of  the  Acqua  Acetosa,  ii.  304 

the  Babuino,  i.  36 

of  the  Barcaccia,  i.  38 

of  the  Capitol,  i.  79 

Egeria,  i.  262 

Egeria  (so-called),  i.  287 

of  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  i.  170 

of  the  Mascherone,  ii.  122 

Meta  Sudans,  i.  151 

ilonte  Cavallo,  i.  312 

Paolina,  ii.  32S 

of  S.  Peter's,  ii.  167 

of  P  azza  Farnese,  ii.  122 

of  Piazza  Navona,  ii.  137 

of  Piazza  Pia,  ii.  166 

of  Ponte  Sisto,  ii.  278 

of  the  Tartarughe,  i.  188 

of  the  Terme,  ii.  32 

of  Trevi,  i.  52 

of  the  Tritone,  i.  304 

of  the  Via  Lata,  i.  60 
Fracassini,  ii.  100   213 
Francia   Francesco,  i.  95,  306;  ii.  221, 

298 
Francis,  S..  relics  of,  ii.  270 
Fuga,  ii.  319 
Funerals,  Koman,  ii.  103 


G. 

Gagliardi,  ii.  156.  291 
Galilei.  Alessandro,  ii.  74,  78 
Galileo,  trial  of,  ii.  154 
Garbo,  RafTellino  del,  ii.  l.J0 
Gardens— 

of  Adonis,  i.  149 

Barberini,  i.  308 

Colonna,  i.  318 

Corsini,  ii.  322 

S.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  i.  231 


Gardens- 
Government,  i.  265 

Mattel,  i.  132 

Medici,  i.  33 

of  S.  Onofrio,  ii.  318 

of  the  Pincio,  i.  30 

della  Pigna,  ii.  253 

Priorato,  i.  253 

Quirinal,  i.  316 

Rospigliosi,  i  318 

of  Sallust,  ii.  4 

of  S.  Sabina,  i.  251 

of  S.  Silvia,  i.  227 

of  the  Vatican,  ii.  253 

Volkonski,  ii.  87 
Garofalo,  i.  62,  95  ;  ii.  222,  299 
Geminiano,  ii.  69 
Genga,  Girolamo  della,  ii.  156 
Gerniale,  the,  i.  196 
Ghetto,  the,  i.  180 
Ghirlandajo,  Domenico,  ii.  204,  301 
Giacometti,  ii.  80 
Gilles,  Pierre,  tomb  of,  i.  55 
Giordano,  Luca,  i.  189,  329 
Giorgione,  i.  63 
Giottino,  ii.  247 

Giotto,  ii.  2   75,  150,  174,  197,  246 
Giovanni  di  S.  Giovanni,  i.  238 
Gladiator,  the  dying,  i.  89 
Gozzoli,  Benozzo,  ii.  85,  149,  221 
Gradus  Pulchri  Littoris,  i.  210 
Graecostasis,  i.  116 
Gros,  Le,  i.  310 
Grottoes  of  Cervara,  ii.  96 
Guercino,  i.  95,  96,  188;    ii.  S,  33,  42, 

111,  221,  225,  298 
Guerini,  i.  138 
Guide.    See  Reni 


H. 


Hermitage  of  S.  Giovanni  de  Matha,  i. 

231 
Holbein,  i.  61 
Horti  Lamiani,  ii.  55 

iV'eronis,  i.  40 
Horrea  Ecclesiae,  ii.  33 
Galbana,  ii.  280 
Peperitae,  i.  136 
Hospitals  of— 

Foundlins,  ii.  167 

S.  Galla,  i.  174 

S.  Gallicano,  ii.  271 

Gesu  Bambino,  ii.  318 

S.  Giovanni  Calabita,  ii.  260 

S.  Michele,  ii.  267 

S.  Rocco,  i.  41 

S  Spirito.  ii.  167 

Surgical,  i.  42 
Houdon,  ii   29 
Houses  of — 

Aquila  and  Priscilla,  i.  255 

Augustus,  i.  193 


Index 


339 


Houses  of — 

Benvenuto  Cellini,  ii.  157 

Bernini,  i.  48 

Cicero,  i.  219 

S.  Ciriaca,  i.  233 

Claude  Lorraine,  i.  36 

Clodius,  i.  218 

the  Cornelii,  i.  304 

Crassus,  i.  219 

Donienichino,  ii.  48 

Drusus  and  Antonia,  i.  207 

Ennius,  i   240 

the  Flavii,  i.  304 

the  Fornarina,  ii.  261 

Giulio  Romano,  i.  69 

John  Gibson,  i.  36 

C.  Gracchus,  i.  218 

Hortensius,  i.  213 

Keats,  i.  38 

Lucrezia  Borgia,  ii.  45 

Maecenas,  ii.  37,  38 

Mark  Antony,  i.  220 

Martial,  i.  303 

Octavius  and  Atia,  i.  195 

Palestrina,  i.  237 

Pedo  Albinovanus,  ii.  38 

Pilate,  i.  171 

Pompey,  ii.  36 

Pomponius  Atticus,  i.  303 

N.  Poussin,  i.  36 

Propertius,  ii.  37 

Raffaelle,  ii.  158,  167 

Regina  di  Polonia,  i.  36 

Rienzi,  i.  171 

Rossini,  i.  36 

Sir  W.  Scott,  i.  48 

S.  Silvia,  i.  225 

Spurius  Cassius,  ii.  36 
Maelius,  i.  191 

Vedius  Pollio,  ii.  37 

the  Vestals,  i.  123 

the  Violinista,  ii.  158 

Virgil,  ii.  27 

the  Zuccari,  i.  36 
Hut  of  i'austulus,  i.  203 


I. 


Ibi,  SinibalJo,  i.  145 
Imohi,  Innocenzo  da,  i.  64 
Inquisition,  the,  ii.  198 
Intormontium,  the,  i.  76 
Isola  Tiberina,  ii.  256 


K. 

Kauffmann,  Angelica,  tomb  of,  i.  49 
Keats,  death  of,  i.  38 ;  grave  of,  ii.  282 
Kircherian  Museum,  i.  56 


Lahre,  tomb  of  the  Venerable,  i.  323 
Lake,  Curtian,  i.  127 

of  Juturna,  i.  121 
Orphei,  ii.  38 
Servilius,  i.  119 
Landini,  ii.  70 

Lanfranco,  i.  188 ;  ii.  129,  158 
Lante   family,  burial-place  of  the,  ii. 

154  ;  villa  of  the,  ii.  328 
Laocoon,  the,  ii.  39,  236 
Lares,  Shrine  of  the,  i.  267 
Lateran,  the,  ii.  68 
Lauretti,  i.  91 
Lawrence,  ii.  86 
Leonine  city,  the,  ii.  165 
Lettesoli,  G.  de',  ii.  270 
Library — 

Angelica,  ii.  112 

Barberini,  i.  305 

Casanatensis,  ii.  154 

Chigi,  i  49 

of  the  Collegio  Romano,  i.  56 

Corsini,  ii.  322 

of  the  Vatican,  ii.  245 

Vallicellana,  ii.  117 
Ligorio,  Pirro,  ii.  138,  254 
Lippi,  Kil.,  i.  63;  ii.  85,  150 
Locanda  del  Orso,  ii.  156 
Loggie,  the,  ii.  219 
Lombards,  national  church  of  the,  i. 

44 
Longhi,  Luca.  i.  63 

Onorio,  44 
Lorenzo,  S.,  i.  13,  46,  197,  233,  324,  325; 

ii.  97,  101,  217,  218 
Lorenzeito,  i.  27 

Lorraine,  Claude,  i.  36,  61,  306 ;  ii.  304 
Lottery.  Roman,  i.  39 
Lotto.  Lorenzi  ,  i.  63,  318 ;  ii.  299 
Loyola,  Ignatius,  grave  of,  i.  70 ;  resi- 
dence of,  i.  70;  ii   119 
Luini,  Bernardino,  ii.  300 
Lunghezza,  ii.  96 

Lunghi,  Martino,  i.  44  ;  ii.  112,  269 
Lupercal,  the,  i.  204 
Luther,  residence  in  Rome  of,  i.  28 


M. 


Janiculan,  the,  ii  314 
Jewish  cemetery,  i.  247 

synagogue,  i.  184 
Joannopolis,  ii.  288 


Macao,  ii.  24 

Macellum,  Magnum,  i.  233 

Maderno,  Carlo,  i.  42,  49,  188,  304  ; 

33,  110,  129,  158,  173 
Maderno,  Stefano,  ii.  265 


340 


Index 


MaKliaiiii.  ii.  209 

MiiL'iis,  Simon,  i.  144 

Mat,'ii;>iii)i)iili,  i.  321 

Mai,  Cardinal,  tomb  of,  i.  1(54 

Maini,  ii.  136 

Malaria,  i.  8 

Maldacchini,   Olympia,   i.   41,  Go ;    ii. 

138,  330 
Maniertine  Prisons,  i.  104 
Mancini,  ii.  186 
MantL'Sjn  I,  Andrea,  ii.  221 
Maranna,  the,  i.  262 
Maratta,  Carlo,  i.  26,  44,  63,  61),  30!) ; 

ii.  28,  29.  69,  151 
Marforio,  i.  68,  81 
Mannorattini,  the,  ii.  160,  280 
\^(I•^eilk■.s,  (Juillaume  de,  i.  26 
Masiic-cio,  i.  240 
Matsys.  (Juentin,  i.  62 
Mausoleimi  of  Augustus,  i.  42 
Doniitian,  1.308 
Hadrian,  ii.  160 
Melozzo  da  Forli,  i.  316;  ii.  196,  226 
Memmi,  Siraone,  ii.  190 
Mengs,  i.  306;  ii.  11,  54,  246 

tomb  of,  ii.  198 
Montana,  ii.  23 
.Messina.  Antonello  da,  Ii   301 
Mi-ta  Siuhuis,  i.  151 
Miehelan-elo,  i.  33,  78,  79,  91,  320;  ii. 
28,  43,  126,  141,  152,  181,  185,  196, 
203,  204-209,  240,  247,  275,  303,  319, 
326 
Milliarium  Aureum,  i.  117 
Mills,  lloatinK,  ii.  260 
Ministerio  delle  Finalize,  ii.  23 
della  (Juerra,  ii.  34 
Miserere,  the,  ii.  209 
Mithraeuni,  i.  242  ;  ii.  47 
Modern  Rome,   i.    40 ;  ii.    23,    24,   91, 

157 
Monastery  of  S.  Anna,  ii.  275 

the  Chiesa  Nuova,  ii.  117 
S.  Croce,  ii.  93 
S.  Eusebio,  ii.  54 
the  Lateran,  ii.  76 
S.  Lorenzo,  ii.  102 
S.  Prassede,  ii.  51 
Mons  Aureus,  ii.  314 

Capitolinus,  i.  73 
(Jiierquetulanus,  i.  222 
Sacer,  ii.  21 
Vaticanus,  ii.  310 
Monte  di  Pieti,  ii.  127 
Caprino,  i.  77,  97 
Cavallo,  i.  311 
Giordano,  ii  116 
Del  Grano,  ii.  88 
Mario,  ii.  310 
Parioli,  ii.  303 
Rotondo,  ii.  23 
.Sacro,  ii.  21 
Tarpeia,  i.  73 
Testaccio,  ii.  283 


MoiiteliiiK),   Rairaellc)  da,    ii.    44,   152, 

326 
Morandi,  ii.  116 
Morelli,  ii.  132 
Moretto  da  Hreseia,  ii.  227 
Moroni,  ii.  298 
Morra,  i^ame  of,  ii.  261 
Mosaies,  manufactory  of,  ii.  228 
Mosca,  Simone,  ii.  45,  326 
.Murano,  Antonio  da,  ii.  85 
.Miirillo,  ii.  221,  321 
.Mum  Torto,  i.  30 
Museum  of — 

Archeologico  Urbano,  i.  224 

Uorfria,  i.  39 

the  Capitol,  i.  81 

at  Cello,  i.  224 

Cliiaramonti,  ii.  241 

Christian,  of  the  Lateran,  ii.  84 

E^iyptian,  ii.  252 

Etruscan,  ii.  249,  304 

Gessi,  ii.  284 

Kircherian,  i.  56 

Lateran,  ii.  82 

Pio-Clementino,  ii.  228 

delle  Ternie,  ii.  30 

Teverino,  ii.  30 

Torlonia,  ii.  319 
Music,  church,  ii.  114 
Muziauo,  i.  63  ;  ii.  29,  117,  149,  183, 196 

N. 

Naumachia,  the,  ii.  139 

Navicella,  the,  i.  231 

Nel)bia,  Cesare,  ii.  34,  64,  117 

Necropolis,  ii.  32 

Neri.  S.  Filippo,  ii.  117,  118,  127,  131, 

318 
Nero,  ghost  of,  i.  24  ;  tomb  of,  i.  24 ; 

palace  of.  ii.  38 ;  tower  of,  i.  320 ; 

baths  of.  ii.  109,  140 
Nozze  Aldobrandini,  the,  ii.  248 
Nuit,  Gerard  de  la,  i.  309 ;  ii.  2 
Xymphaeum,  i.  200,  287  ;  ii.  312 


0. 


Obelisk  of— 

the  Lateran,  ii.  69 

S.  Maria  Maggiore,  ii.  66 

the  Monte  Cavallo,  i.  311 

Citorio,  i.  50 
the  Pantheon,  ii.  147 
S.  Peter's,  ii.  168 
the  Piazza  Minerva,  ii.  147 

Navona,  ii.  137 
the  Pincio,  i.  30 
the  Piazza  del  Popolo,  i.  24 

della  Rotonda,  ii.  147 

Trinity  de'  Monti,  i.  34 
the  Villa  Mattel,  1.  232 
of  the  railway  station,  11.  25 


Index 


341 


Obicci,  ii.  ISl 

Observatory  of  the  Collegio  Romano, 

i.  56 
Oggiono,  Marco,  ii.  300 
Olivieri,  Paolo,  i.  143,  326  ;  ii.  129 
Oppius,  tlie,  i.  209 ;  ii.  36 
Orizonte,  i.  317 
Orso,  Locaiula  del,  ii.  156 
Orti  Farnesiani,  i.  19'i 
Orto  del  Paradiso,  ii.  49 
Ortolano,  ii.  301 
Osa,  C'astello  del,  ii.  96 
Ostia,  ii.  292 
Overbeck,  i.  36  ;  ii.  34 
Ovilia,  ii.  107 


Paedagogium,  i.  211 
Palaces  (Palazzi) — 

Albani,  i.  308 

Aldobrandini,  i.  321 

Altemps,  ii.  112 

Altieri,  i.  70 

Altoviti,  ii.  157 

Aiitonelli,  i.  319 

of  Augustus,  i.  214 

Barberini,  i.  304 

Bernini,  i.  46 

Bonaparte,  i.  67 

Borghese,  i.  44 

Brancaccio,  ii.  66 

Braschi,  ii.  132 

Caesar's,  i.  192 

Caetani,  i.  189 

Caffarelli,  i.  96 

of  Caligula,  i.  207 

Cancelleria,  ii.  123 

Cardelli,  ii.  110 

Cenci,  i.  186 

Oesareo.  i.  267 

Chigi,  i.'  49 

Cini,  i.  51 

Colonna,  i.  63 

the  Conservators,  i.  90 

Consulta,  i.  312 

Correa,  i.  44 

Corsini,  ii.  319 

Costaguti,  i.  18S 

of  Domitian,  1.  196,  200 

Doria,  i.  60 

Falconieri,  ii.  122 

Farnese,  ii.  121 

Farnesina,  ii.  323 

Fiano,  i.  46 

Gabrielli,  ii.  116 

Galitzin,  ii.  110 

of  Gelasius  II.,  i.  170 

Giraud,  ii.  106 

Giustiniani.  ii.  141 

Governo  Vecchio,  ii.  116 


Palaces  (Palazzi)— 

of  Hadrian,  i.  217 

Lancellotti,  ii.  138 

the  Lateran,  ancient,  ii.  78 

the  Lateran,  modern,  ii.  82 

Linote,  ii.  125 

Madam  a,  ii.  139 

Mancini,  ii.  110 

Margana,  i.  190 

Massimo  alle  Colonne,  ii.  130 

Mattel,  i.  188 

Monte  Citorio,  i.  50 

Moroni,  ii.  275 

Muti-Pappazzuri,  i.  66 

of  Nero,  ii.  38 

of  Numa,  1.  195 

Odescalchi,  i.  62 

Orsini,  i.  177 

Palombara,  i.  48 

Panifili,  ii.  138 

Parisani,  i.  49 

Patrizi,  ii.  141 

Pio,  ii.  129 

Piombino,  ii.  5 

Poll,  i.  53 

Ponziani,  ii.  264 

Quirinale,  i.  312 

Regina  di  Polonia,  i.  36 

Ricci,  ii.  119 

Rospigliosi,  i.  317 

Ruspoli,  1.  40 

Sacchetti,  ii.  123 

Salviati,  i.  62 

Salviati  alia  Lungara,  ii.  318 

Santa  Croce,  ii.  128 

Santo  tifflzio,  ii.  198 

Savelli,  i.  177 

Savorelli,  i.  66 

Sclarra,  i.  53 

del  Senato,  ii.  139 

of  the  Senator,  i.  79 

Spada,  ii.  125 

di  Spagna,  i.  38 

of  Tarquinlus  Superbus,  i.  195 

Teodoli,  i.  46 

of  Tiberius,  i.  206 

Torlonia,  i.  67 

of  Tullus  Hostilius,  i.  195 

Valdambrini,  i.  44 

Valentini,  i.  63 

of  the  Vatican,  ii.  202 

Venezia,  i.  67 

Verospi,  i.  46 

of  Vespasian,  i.  196 

Vidoni,  ii.  130 
Palatine,  the,  i.  192 
Palazzetto  Piorghese,  i.  45 
Farnese,  ii.  125 
Palladio,  1.  177  ;  ii.  167 
Palnia  Giovane,  i.  69 
Palmezzano,  Marco,  ii.  85 
Pannini,  i.  317 
Pantheon,  the,  ii.  142 
Paoline  Chapel,  ii.  203 


342 


Index 


Parco  di  S.  Greporio,  i.  225 

Pasquino,  ii.  132 

Passage  of  escape  for  the  Franciscan 

tienerals,   i.    77  ;    for   the    Popes, 

ii.  1()5 
Passeggiata  Margherita,  ii.  318 
Passignano,  i.  255 
Paul,  S.,  at  Konie,  i.  57,   107,  198,  212, 

255.  250,  299-301 ;  ii.  281,  284-287, 

2S9,  290 
Penni.  Francesco,  ii.  196.  217,  219,  226, 

323 
Perugiiio,  ii.  11,  112,  154,  203,  221,  226, 

301 
Peruzzi,  ii.  116,  172,  298,  316,  324,  325  ; 

tomb  of,  ii.  131 
Pesaro,  Niccolo  da,  i.  101 
Pescheria,  the,  i.  179 
Peter,  S.,  at  Rome,  i.  107,  272  ;  ii.  168, 

194,  200,  284,  327 
Pettrich,  i.  189 ;  ii.  29,  86 
Planta  Capitolina,  i.  82 
Piazza— 

SS.  Apostoli,  i.  62 

Benedetto  Cairoli,  ii.  128 

S.  Benedetto  a  Piscinuola,  ii.  261 

del  Campidoglio,  i.  78 

di  Canipitelli,  i.  189 

dei  Cappuccini,  ii.'  1 

Capo  di  Ferro,  ii.  125 

S.  Claudio,  i.  49 

Colonna.  i.  49 

S.  Eustachio.  ii.  141 

Farnese,  ii.  122 

del  Gesu,  i.  71 

S.  Giovanni,  ii.  69 

della  Giudecca,  i.  185 

deir  Indipendenza,  ii.  24 

d'ltalia,  ii.  270 

S.  Lorenzo,  i.  46 

S.  Maria  -Magjjiore,  ii.  58 
ill  Monti,  i.  323 

della  Minerva,  ii.  147 

Miguanelli,  i.  39 

Montanara,  i.  175 

Monte  Cavallo,  i.  311 

Monte  Cit'irio,  i.  50 

della  Navicella,  i.  231 

Navona,  ii.  137 

Orfanelli,  i   51 

del  Orologio,  ii.  116 

Paganica,  ii.  107 

del  Paradiso,  ii.  124 

Pia,  ii.  166 

del  Pianto,  i.  185 

di  Pietra,  i.  51 

S.  Pietif>,  ii.  167 

del  Popolo,  i.  24 

della  Rotonda,  ii.  147 

Rusticucci,  ii.  158,  166 

Sciarra,  i.  53 

Scossa  Cavalli,  ii.  166 

S.  Silvestro,  i.  48 

di  Spagna,  i.  37 


J'iazza  — 

delle  Scuole,  i.  186  ;  ii.  108 
delle  Tartarughe.  i.  188 
delle  Ternie,  ii.  32 
del  Tritone,  i.  304 
(Ii  Venezia,  i.  07 
Vittorio  Enianuele,  ii.  53 
Pigna,  the,  ii.  161,  253 
Pillar  of  Phocas.  i.  127 
Pincio,  the,  i.  28 
Pintelli,  Baccio,  ii,  41,  115,  203 
Pintiiricchio,  i.  25,  26,  101 ;  ii.  92,  222, 

247,  275,  316 
Piombo,  Sebastian  del,  i.  27,  60;  ii.  73, 

116.  '-'99,  316,  324,  326 
Pisa,  Isaia  da,  ii.  156 
Pisano,  Andrea,  ii.  191 
Piscina  Pubblica,  i.  267 
Podesti,  ii.  291 
PoUajuolo,   Antonio,    ii.    39,    44,    183, 

300 
Pomerancio,  i.  188,  234  ;  ii.  29 
Pons  Agrippae,  ii.  278 
Cestius,  ii.  260 
Emilius,  i.  172 
Fabricius,  ii.  257. 
Milvius,  ii.  305 
Neronianns,  ii.  160 
Sulilicius,  i.  173 
Tarpeius,  ii.  257 
Vaticanus,  ii.  160 
Ponte — 

S.  Angelo,  ii.  159 
S.  Baitolommeo,  ii.  260 
ai  Fiorentini,  ii.  159 
Garibaldi,  ii.  271 
Molle,  ii.  305 
Xoinentano,  ii.  21 
di  Nono,  ii.  96 
Quattro  Capi,  ii.  256 
Rotto,  i.  172;  ii.  262 
Salario,  ii.  12 
Sisto,  ii.  277 
Sublicio,  i.  173 
Vaticano,  ii.  160 
Ponzio,  Flaminio,  i.  53,  317 
Pordenone,  ii.  299 

Porta,  Giacomo  della,  1.  49,  69,  188 ; 
ii.  75,  139,  153,  158,  173,  177, 
188,  285 
Giovanni  Batt.  della,  ii.  33 
Giuseppe,  ii.  202 
Guglielmo  della,  ii.  186 
Porta— 

Angelica,  ii.  312 
Appia,  i.  270 
Ardeatina,  ii.  271 
Asinaria,  ii.  77 
Aurelia,  ii.  328 
Capena,  i.  260,  261 
Carinentalis,  i.  174 
Cavalleggieri,  ii.  198 
Chiusa,  ii.  24 
CoUina,  ii.  25 


Index 


343 


Porta— 

Esquilina,  ii.  51 

Flaiuiuia,  ii.  293 

Fontinalis,  i.  319 

Furba,  ii.  88 

S.  Giovanni,  ii.  77 

Labicana,  ii.  94 

Latina,  i.  268 

S.  Lorenzo,  ii.  96 

Maggiore,  ii.  94 

Metroiiia,  i.  260;  ii.  70 

Alugonia,  i.  193,  195 

Nonientana,  ii.  16 

Ostiensis,  ii.  323 

S.  Pancrazio,  ii.  328 

S.  Paolo,  ii.  283 

Perusta,  ii.  77 

Pia,  ii.  16 

Pinciana,  ii.  9 

del  Popolo,  ii.  293 

Portese,  ii.  267 

Praenestina,  ii.  94 

Ratumena,  i.  68 ;  ii.  306 

Roniaiia,  i.  193 

Romanula,  i.  209 

Salaria,  ii.  13 

Salutaris,  i.  309 

Sanqualis,  i.  53,  309 

S.  Sebastiano,  i.  270 

Settimiana,  ii.  276,  323 

S.  Spirito,  ii.  315 

Trlgemina,  ii.  279 

Viridaria,  ii.  312 
Portico  of  Dii  Consentes,  i.  117 
Danaiorum,  i.  217 
Livia,  i.  17S 
Marsaritaria,  i.  136 
Metellus,  i.  178 
ad  Nationes,  ii.  108 
Octavia,  i.  176  ;  ii.  108 
Pallas  Minerva,  i.  Ill 
Philippi,  ii.  107 
Posi,  i.  27 

Post-Offlce,  General,  i.  19,  48 
Poussin,  Caspar,  ii.  46 

Nicholas,  i.  113,  ii.  307  ;  tomb 
of,  i.  47 
Pozzi,  Giobattista,  i.  55,  69  ;  ii.  64 
Prata  Quinctia,  i.  40 

Flaniiiiia,  ii.  106 
Prati  del  Popolo  Romano,  ii.  283 
Prato  di  S.  Cosimato,  ii.  275 
Prefettura,  the,  i.  63 
Presepio,  origin  of  the,  i.  101 
Pretorian  Camp,  ii.  24 
Prima  Porta,  ii.  307 
Printing    Press     of    Pannartz    and 

Schweinheim,  ii.  131 
Priorato,  the,  i.  253 
Prisons— 

in  S.  Angelo,  ii.  164 

Carceri  Nuove,  ii.  123 

Mamertine,  i.  104 

for  Women,  ii.  32 


Propaganda,  the,  i.  38 

Protestant  Cemeteries,  ii.  282,  283 
Churches,  i.  18,  36,  329 

Provenzali,  Marco,  ii.  300 

Pseudo-Aventine,  i.  257 

Pyramid  of  Caius  Cestius,  ii.  281 
Romulus,  i.  160 
Scipio  Africanus,  ii.  166 

Quattro  Fontane,  i.  308 
Quay  of  the  Ripetta,  i.  40 
Quirinal,  the,  i.  302 

R. 

Raflaelle,  i.  27,  54,  61,  95,  100,  113,  233, 

306;  ii.  73,   111,  115,   145,   214-217, 

218,  222-226,  299,  301,  302,  308,  322, 

323-324,  32? 
Raffaellino  del  Garbo,  ii.  150 
Raggi,  Antonio,  ii.  136 
Railway  station,  ii.  25 
Rainaldi,  Carlo,  ii.  128,  153 
Girolamo,  ii.  135 
Ratisbonne,  conversion  of  M.,  i.  48 
Regia  of  Julius  Caesar,  i.  133 
Reni,  Guido,  i.  47,  54,  62,  96,  228,  317  ; 

ii.  1,  33,  63,  117,  121,  129,  140,  227, 

228,  321 
Restaurant — 

Castello  di  Costantino,  i.  257 
Ricciolini,  ii.  29 
Rienzi,  i.  42,  77,  189  ;  ii.  69 
Rinaldi,  i.  42 ;  ii.  291 
Ripa  Grande,  ii.  267 
Ripetta,  the,  i.  39 
Ripresa  dei  Barberi,  i.  68 
Roraana,  S.  Francesca,  i.  92,  100,  142, 

190 ;  ii.  97,  262,  268,  284 
Romaiielli,  i.  92,  95,  188  ;  ii.  29,  189 
Romano  Giulio,  i.  103,  233  ;  ii.  11,  51, 
113,   173,   196,  214,  217,  224, 
302,  308,  309,  323,  328 
Paolo,  i.  254  ;  ii.  159,  274 
Roma  Quadrata,  i.  217 

Vecchia,  i.  297 
Rosa,  Salvator,  ii.  28,  158 
Rosselli,  Cosimo,  ii.  204 
Rossi,  Giov.  Antonio,  i.  70  ;  ii.  184,  186 

Mario,  ii.  290 
Rostra,  i.  115,  119 
Rubens,  i.  62,  95 
Rucfjoni,  Cainillo,  ii.  183 
Ruins  most  worth  seeing,  i.  21 
Rustica,  ii.  96 


S. 


Sabbatini,  ii.  209,  218 
Sacchi,  Andrea,  i.  306  ;  ii   4,  69,  75,  129, 
154,  227,  228 


344 


Index 


S.  Giorgio,  Eusehio  lU,  ii.  301 
Salita  di  S.  Oiiofrio,  ii.  315 
Salvi,  Niccolo,  i.  52 
Salviati,  ii.  115,  204 

Sangallo,  Antonio  di,  ii.  59,  152,  173, 
202 
Andrea  di,  i.  26 
Giuliano  di,  i.  110;  ii.  113 
Sansovino,  Jacopo  di,  ii.  HI 
Santi,  Tito,  ii.  158 
Sanzio,  Giovanni,  i.  64 ;  ii.  85 
Sapienza,  the,  ii.  141 
Saraceni,  Carlo,  i.  62  ;  ii.  114 
Sarto,  Andrea  del,  ii.  300 
Sassoferrato,   1.  62,   249;    ii.   86,  226, 

301 
Saxa  Rubra,  ii.  307 
Scala  Regia,  ii.  202 
Santa,  ii.  79 
Scalae  Caci,  i.  203,  210 

Gemoniae,  i.  105 
Scannabecchi,  the,  ii-  308 
Schadow,  i.  36 
Schnorr,  Paul,  ii.  218 
Schools— 

Castigliana,  i.  184 
Catilana,  1.  184 
Francorura,  ii.  198 
of  Music,  ii.  86 
Nuova,  i.  184 
Saxonum,  ii.  199 
Siciliani,  i.  184 
del  Tempio,  i.  184 
of  Xantlius,  i.  117 
Scipios,    tomb    of   the,    i.    269;    ii. 

242 
Sculptors,  studios  f)f,  i.  21 
Serainario  Romano,  ii.  112 
Senaculum,  i.  115 
Septa,  i.  60  ;  ii.  107 
Septimontiuni,  i.  209 
Septizonum  of  Severus,  i.  217 
Sermoneta,  ii.  75,  116,  218 
Sesto,  Cesare,  ii.  85,  228 
Sette  Basse,  ii.  88 

Sale,  ii.  67 
Shelley,  tomb  of,  ii.  283 
Shrine    of   Gordian    the    Younger,    i. 
135 
the  Lares,  i.  267 
of  Mercury,  i.  122 ;  ii.  47 
Sicciolante,  Girolamo,  ii.  140 
Siena.  Agostino  da,  i.  100 
Berni  da,  ii.  72 
S.  Caterina  da,  i.  143,  320;  ii. 

151 
Paolo  da,  ii.  190 
Signorelli,  Luca,  ii.  11,  85,  204 
Simila,  groves  of,  i.  246 
Sinione,  i.  241  ;  ii.  174 
Sistine  Chapel,  ii.  203 
Sodoma,  ii.  214,  324 
Solario,  Andrea,  ii.  300 
Sosnowsky,  ii.  80,  84 


Spagna,  Lo,  ii.  85 

Spagnoletto,  ii.  64,  225 

Spoleto,  Guido  da,  ii.  246 

Stables,  Royal,  i.  317 

Stairs  of  Cacus,  i.  20C,  210 

Stanze,  the,  ii.  213 

Statio  Rationis  Marmorum,  ii.  lol 

of  Vigiles,  i.  233 
Statue  of  Garibaldi,  ii.  318 

Giordano  Bruno,  ii.  123 
Marcus  Aurelius,  i.  78 
Metastasio,  i.  48 
Marco  Minghetti,  ii.  132 
Rienzi,  i.  77 

Victor  Emmanuel  II.,  i.  104 
Stern,  Raphael,  ii.  242 
Studios,  artists',  i.  21 

of  Canova,  i.  42 
sculptors',  i.  21 
Subleyras,  i.  95  ;  ii.  29 
Suburra,  ii.  37 
Sulla,  tomb  of,  24 
Suovetaurilia,  the,  i.  128 
Sustermanns,  i.  63 


T. 


Tabernae  Argentariae,  i.  129 

Tablinum,  i.  199 

Tabularium,  i.  80,  115 

Tadolini,  ii.  174 

Tarentum,  ii.  119 

Tarpeian  Rock,  i.  96,  191 

Tusso,    death    of,    at    S.    Onofrio,   ii. 

317 
Tavolato,  ii.  89 
Tenipesta,  i.  234,  317  ;  ii.  218 
Tempietto,  the,  i.  ?S 

the,  of  Bramante,  ii.  327 
Temples— 

of  Aesculapius,  ii.  257 

of  the  Arvales,  ii.  268 

Antoninus  and  Faustina,  i.  132 

Apollo,  i.  215  ;  ii.  106 

Apollo  Medicus,  i.  174 

Augustus,  i.  221 

Bacchus,  i.  286 

Bellona,  ii.  107 

Castor  and  Pollux,  i.  120 

Ceres,  Liber,  and  Libera,  1.  165 

Claudius,  i.  231 

Concord,  i.  116 

Cybele,  i.  162,  205,  206 

Diana,  i.  245,  246 ;  ii.  108 

Divus  Rediculus,  i.  289 

Faunus,  ii.  257 

Fever,  i.  303,  328  ;  ii.  35 

Fides,  i.  75 

Fortuna,  Equestris,  ii.  108 
Muliebris,  ii.  89 
Publica,  i.  303 
Virilis,  i.  171 


Index 


345 


Temples — 

Fortune,  i.  165 
Hadrian,  ii.  109 
Hercules,  i.  170,  203,  ■liil 

Musagetes,  ii.  Iii7 
Musaruni,  i.  180 
at  the  Scalae  Caci,  i.  203 
Victor,  i.  1(56 
Honour  anil  Virtue,  i.  75,  261 
Isis  and  Serapis,  i.  57  ;  ii.  148 
.fana,  i.  245 
.Tanus  Quirinus,  i.  131 
.Julius  Caesar,  i.  132. 
.Tuno,  ii.  96 

Lucina,  ii.  35 
Mephitis,  ii.  35 
Moneta,  i.  76 
Regina,  i.  245,  246,  249 
Sospita,  i.  174,  208 
Jupiter,  ii.  257 

Capitolinus,  i.  73,  77 
Feretrius,  i.  75 
Inventor,  ii.  279 
Stator,  i.  148 
Tonans,  i.  75,  116 
Victor,  i.  202 
Juturna,  ii.  109 
Liberty,  i.  245 
Liberty  and  Juno,  i.  245 
Luna,  i.  245 

Marcus  Aurelius,  i.  50  ;  ii.  109 
Mars,  i.  75,  261,  271  ;  ii.  108 

Ultor,  i.  Ill 
Mater  Matuta,  i.  170 
Matuta,  i.  165 
Minerva,  i.  208,  246  ;  ii.  108 

Medica,  ii.  55 
Moonlight,  i.  208 
Neptune,  i.  51 ;  ii.  109 
the  Nymphs,  i.  222 
Peace,  i.  135 
Piety  and  Hope,  i.  174 
Pudicitia  Patricia,  i.  166 
Plebeia,  i.  328 
Quiriinis,  i.  302 
Romulus,  son  of  Maxentius,  i.  134, 

140 
Sacrae  I'rbis,  i.  134 
Saturn,  i.  117 
Seino  Sanctus,  ii.  303 
Spes,  i.  174 
the  .Sun,  i.  318 
Sylvanus,  i.  328 
Tellus,  ii.  36,  40 
Tempestas,  i.  261 
Venus  and  Cupid,  ii.  93 

Erycina,  i.  75  ;  ii.  116 
Genetrix,  i.  113 
and  Rome,  i.  145 
Libitina,  ii.  35 
Vespasian,  i.  116 
Vesta,  i.  121 

so-called,  i.  170 
Victory,  i.  208 

VOL.    I. 


Tenerani,  ii.  75,  154,  187,  291 
Theatres  (ancient)— 

of  Balbus.  i.  ISo 

of  Marcellus,  i.  177 

of  Ponipey,  ii.  129 
Theatres  (nindern),  i.  18,  51 
Thorwaldsen,  i.  138;  ii.  146,  187 
Til)erius,  Arch  of,  i.  117 ;  palace  of,  i. 

205  ;  tomb  of,  i.  43 
Tigellum  Sororis,  ii.  46 
Tintoret,  i.  63,  95 
Titian,  i.  61,  62,  95,   96,    113;  ii.   225, 

299,  300 
Tito.  Santi  da,  ii.  254 
Tombs  (ancient)— 

of    the    Viaker    Eurysaces,    ii. 
94 

Bibulus,  i.  68 

Caius  Cestius,  ii.  281 

Casale  Rotondo,  i.  298 

Cecilia  Metella.  i.  293 

S.  Constantia,  ii.  18,  228 

Cotta,  i.  298 

Crepereia  Tryphaena,  ii.  166 

Minucius  Fundanus,  ii.  316 

Gens  Cornelia,  i.  269 

Geta.  i.  271 

Hadrian,  ii.  160 

S.  Helena,  ii.  95,  228 

Herodes  and  Regilla,  i.  289 

Horatii  and  Curiatii,  i.  297 

the  Licinian  gens,  ii.  9 

of  Lucilius  Poetus,  ii.  12 

the  Metelli,  i.  298 

on  Monte  Mario,  ii.  310 

of  Menander,  ii.  9 

the  Nasones,  ii.  306 

Nero,  site  of,  i.  25 

so-called,  ii.  308 

of  Nunia  Pompilius,  ii.  315 

L.   Paetus  and  Lucilia  Polla.   ii. 
12 

the  Pancratii,  ii.  8S 

Ponipey,  i.  299 

Priscilla,  i.  271 

Romulus,   son  of  Maxentius,   i. 
293 

the  Scipios,  i.  2.59  ;  ii.  241 

of     the    Gens     Senipronia,    i. 
53 

Sulla,  i.  24 

the  Sulpicii,  ii.  325 

Sulpicius  Galba,  ii.  280 
Maximus,  ii.  8 

Tatius,  i.  244 
Torre — 

de  Babele,  i.  320 

Borgia,  ii.  248 

del  Campidoglio,  i.  79 

dei  Conti,  ii.  40 

del  Fiscale,  ii.  89 

Frangipani,  ii.  45 

del  Grillo,  i.  320 

Marancia,  i.  284 


346 


Index 


Torre— 

Melliua,  ii.  l^io 

Mezza  Strada,  i.  297 

S.  Lucia  in  Selce,  ii.  48 

delle  Miliziu,  i.  320 

Neroiie,  i.  320 

Nomeiitana,  ii.  22, 

di  Nona,  ii.  150 

>'uova,  ii.  95 

Pcriiioo,  ii.  95 

Pi^Ciiatatra,  ii.  95 

(11  Quiiito,  ii.  306  ; 

Sangiiiiiea,  ii.  113 

dei  Schiavi,  ii.  95 

della  Scimia,  ii.  110 

di  Selce,  i.  298 ;  ii.  48 

Tre  Teste,  ii.  90 
Torretta  del  Palatiiio,  i.  209 
Trasteveie,  the,  ii.  261 
Tre  Fontane,  ii.  285 
Trevi,  Fontana  di,  i.  52 
Ti-ibunale   di   Guena  e  Marina,    ii. 

318 
Tribune,  the,  i.  115 
Triopio,  tlie,  i.  288 
Trophies  of  Marius,  ii.  53 
Tnillo,  Lo,  ii.  293 
TuUianum,  i.  107 
Tiirris  Chartularia,  i.  146,  148 
Turrita,  .Jacopo  da,  ii.  60 


U. 


Iodine,  Giovanni  da,  ii.  247,  309  ;  grave 

of,  ii.  145 
Umbilicus  Romae,  i.  118 
University  of  the  Sapienza,  ii.  141 


Vacca,  Flaminio,  ii.  33 

Vaga,  Pierino  del,   i.   35,   55,   233 ;  ii. 

142,  145,  164,  214,  220,  247,  302 
Valadico,  ii.  09 
Valca,  the,  ii.  307 
Val  d'Infurno,  ii.  312 
Valle  Caftarelle,  i.  272,  288 
Valle,  Filippo,  ii.  182 
Vallis  Murcia,  i.  164 
Vandyke,  i.  61,  63;  ii.  86,  302,  321 
Vanni,  Francesco,  ii.  29,  116 
Vanvitelli,  ii.  28 
Vasari,  ii.  202 
Vassalectus,  i.  64 
Vatican,  the,  ii.  2Q0 
Vecchi,  Giovanni  de',  327 
Velabruni,  the,  i.  162 
Velasquez,  i.  61.  95,  113 


\  elia,  i.  195 

\'erlosi,  Giuseppe,  ii.  186 

Veronese,  Paul,  i.  63,  96,  113,  299 

Vespasian,  palace  of,  i.  196 

Vestals,  house  of  the,  i.  123 

Via- 

S.  Agostino,  ii.  Ill 

Appia,  i.  260 

Ardeatina,  i.  272 

Alessandrina,  i.  Ill,  112 

S.   Antonio  dei  Portoghesi,  ii. 
110 

all'  Antoniana,  i.  265 

Ara  Coeli,  i.  199 

Babuino,  i.  36 

dei  Kanchi,  ii.  157 

S.  Basilio,  ii.  4 

Bonella,  i.  113 

del  Borgo  Nuovo,  ii.  166 

delle  Botteghe  Oscure,  i.  189 

Calabraga,  ii.  119 

di  t'appuccini,  ii.  4 

C'aravjta,  i.  54 

Cassia,  ii.  308 

de'  Chiavari,  ii.  116 

S.  Claudio,  i.  49 

del  Colo.sseo,  ii.  36 

Condotti,  i.  44  ;  ii.  109 

del  Collegio  Romano,  i.  57,  60 

della  C'onsolazione,  i.  119 

delle  Convertite,  i.  48 

dei  Coronari,  ii.  157 

del  Corse,  i.  41 

della  Ferratella,  i.  267 

dei  Fienili,  i.  161 

Flaniinia,  i  68  ;  ii.  306 

Fontanella,  i.  44  ;  ii.  109 

dei  Funari,  i.  189 

delle  Fornaci,  ii.  325 

di  Giardino,  i.  48 

San  Giovanni,  ii.  68 

S.  Giovanni  Decollate,  i.  173 

dei  Giubbonari,  ii.  116 

dei  Fiorentini,  ii.  158 

dei  Funari,  i.  189 

Giulia,  ii.  122 

Giulio  Romano,  ii.  77 

del  Ghetarelle,  i.  68 

del  Governo  Vecchio,  ii.  116 

Gregoriana,  i.  36 

S.  Gregorio,  i.  263 

Iniraerulana,  ii.  85 

Latina,  i.  268  ;  ii.  88 

S.  Lucia  in  Selce,  ii.  47 

Lungara,  ii.  27(),  325 

Luiigarina,  ii.  261,  262 

Macel  dei  Corvi,  i.  68 

Maggiore,  ii.  52 

Magnanopoli,  i.  320 

Malpasso,  ii.  123 

Marforio,  i.  69,  104 

Margutta,  i.  36 

Marniorata,  ii.  278 

JIazzarini,  i.  32l 


Index 


347 


Via— 

de  Merced  e,  i.  4S 
S.  Maria  Magsiore,  i.  325 
Monserrato,  ii.  119 
del  Monte  Tarpeio,  i.  191 
Morticelli,  ii.  270 
di  Muratte,  i.  52 
de  Nazzareno,  i.  49 
Nazionale,  i.  329 
S.  Xiecolo  da  Tolentino,  ii.  i 
Nova,  i.  126,  210 
Pane  e  Perna,  i.  324 
in  Parione.  ii.  116 
della  Pedacchia,  ii.  77 
di  Pietra.  i.  56 
del  Pie  di  Marmo,  ii.  loo 
de  Pontefici,  i.  42 
Poituense,  ii.  268 
S.  Prassede,  ii.  51 
dei  Quattro  Cantoni,  ii.  47 
del  Quirinale,  i.  309 
della  Regrola,  ii.  27S 
Ripetta,  i.  39 
S.  Sabina,  i.  247 
Sacra,  i.  133,  150 
Salaria,  ii.  10,  16 
della  Salita  del  Grille,  i.  112 
Savelli,  ii.  256 
della  Scala,  ii.  276 
delle  Scuderie,  ii.  319 
della  Scrofa,  ii.  109 
dei  Serpenti,  i.  322 
S.  Sebastiano,  i.  262 
della  Sediola,  ii.  141 
Sistina,  i.  26  , 

dei  Specchi,  ii.  127 
Sterrata,  i.  308 
Tor  di  Specchi,  i.  190 
Tordinona,  ii.  156 
Triomphalis,  i.  151 ;  ii.  160 
Urbana,  i  325 
Vanvitelli,  ii.  284 
dei  Vascellari,  ii.  262 
Venti  Settembre,  ii.  33 
delle  Vite,  i.  47 
Vittoria,  i.  44 
Vittorio  Bnianuele,  ii.  116 
Viale  Parioli,  ii.  303 
Vicolo  d'Aliberti,  i.  36 
Victor  Emmanuel,  death  and  tomb  of. 

ii.  146 
Vicus  ApoUinis,  i.  194 

Corneliorum,  i.  304 

Cyprius,  ii.  37 

Judaeorum,  i.  182 

Jugarius,  i.  119 

Longns,  i.  324,  328 

Thurarius,  i.  161 

Url)ius,  i.  325 

Tnscus,  i.  121,  161 
Vigna  Codini,  i.  269^ 

de  Fredis,  ii.  39 

dei  Gesuiti,  i.  256 


Vigna— 

.Marancia,  i.  272 
.s.  Sabba,  i.  258 
Torlonia,  i.  256 
Vignola,  i.  69,  195 ;  ii.  283 
Villas- 
Ada,  ii.  12 

Albani,  ii.  10 

Altieri,  ii.  94 

Amaranthiana,  i.  281 

Aurelia,  ii.  328 

Bertone,  ii.  12 

Bonaparte,  ii.  16 

Borghese,  ii.  294 

Canipana,  ii.  68 

Casali,  i.  237 

CelimOntana,  i.  232 

Chigi,  ii.  12 

of  Claude  Lorraine,  ii.  304 

Boria,  ii.  330 

Esmeade,  ii.  302 

Farnesina,  ii.  323 

Gloria,  ii.  303 

Lante,  ii.  328 

Lezzani,  ii.  16 

of  Livia,  ii.  SOS 

of  Luculhis,  i.  31 

Ludovisi,  ii.  5 

Madam  a,  ii.  308 

Malta,  i.  30 

Massimo  Arsole,  ii.  86 
Negroni,  ii.  25 
Ptignano,  ii.  4 

of  Maecenas,  ii.  60 

Mattel,  i.  232 

Medici,  i.  32 

Millini,  ii.  310 

Mills,  i.  213,  216 

most  worth  seeing,  i.  21 

Negroni,  ii.  25 

Olgiati,  ii.  302 

Palatina,  i.  213 

Palombara,  ii.  53 

Pamflli,  ii.  330 

of  Papa  Giulio,  ii.  303 

Patrizi,  ii.  16 

of  Phaon,  ii.  21 

Publica,  ii.  186 

of  Raffaelle,  ii.  302 

of  the  Servilii,  ii.  88 

Spada,  ii.  21 

Strozzi,  ii.  27 

Torlonia,  ii.  17 

of  Valerius  Asiaticus,  i.  31 

Vittoria,  ii.  17 

AVolkonski,  ii.  87 
Villa  Pul)li(:a,  ii.  106 
Viminal,  the,  i.  302,  324 
Vinci,  Leonardo  da,  i.  54 
Vite,  'J'inioteo  ilclla,  i.  301 
Viridarinm,  ii.  312 
Vivarinni,  i.  231 
Volpato,  the  engraver,  tomb  of,  i.  64 


348 


Index 


\'nlterra,  Daiiiele  da,  i.  35,  !)2,  :ilS  ;  ii. 

121,  131,  324,  327 
\'<)iiot,  Sinidii,  ii  270 
Vuloanal,  the,  i.  116 


Weld,  Cardinal.  Ki'ave  of,  i.  55 
White    Mule,    procession  of    the,   ii. 

148 
Wolf  of  the  Capitol,  i.  93,  162 


W. 


Walls  of- 

AncHS  Martius,  i.  244 
Awrelian,  i.  270 ;  ii.  91 
Honorius,  ii.  94,  96 
Romulus,  i.  195,  209 
Servius  Tullius,  i.  2.'i7  ;  ii.  24 


/.. 


Zucchero,    Kederigo,    ii.    202,    286, 

301 
Zucchero,  Tiiddeo,  i.  121,  274  ;  toml)  of, 

ii.  145 
Zncchi,  ii.  93 


END   OF   VOL.   I. 


Printed  by  Bali.antynk,  Hanson  &=  Co. 
Edinburgh  <5^  London 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


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1902  Walks  in 

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